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At this time of every year, we start to see more and more films featuring gifted actors whose names are regulars on lists of Award Season contenders. While some of these performances don’t live up to the hype, writer/director Todd Field’s Tár offers up a performance that deserves every bit of the buzz.
Tár explores the life and career of Lydia Tár (Cate Blanchett), one of the most influential figures in modern classical music—a legendary composer and conductor based in Berlin. Lydia is at the height of her career—talented and powerful and famous. But as she’s preparing for both the release of her new book and a live recording of one of her favorite symphonies, everything begins to crumble around her. And as she faces attacks and scrutiny and scandal from every direction, she begins to lose the control that she’s so carefully maintained.
Admittedly, though, all of this drama tends to play out in subtle ways. Tár isn’t as straightforward as the typical mainstream drama. It’s a slow-building character study, using a series of business meetings and brief interactions to develop this fascinating character: gifted and knowledgeable, quick-witted and sometimes shockingly sharp-tongued, always in control of every situation, surrounded by assistants and admirers and those under her iron-fisted rule (right down to her partner, Nina Hoss’s Sharon, who works as her longsuffering and ever-observant concertmaster). She can find a way to manipulate any situation—until she can’t anymore.
Like the film’s build-up, though, the character’s demise also takes time—a glance here, a meeting there, a muttered allegation—until Lydia finds herself taken down by social media and her own power. The film may be long, the ups and downs subtler and more gradual than viewers might be expecting, but it’s all beautifully, artistically done—this cinematic portrait that deliberately progresses through hints and suggestions, in auditoriums and city streets, in sounds and silence, all centered on one brilliant and haunting performance. There may be other characters in the film, but they all pale in comparison to Cate Blanchett’s Lydia, who keeps all of the spotlight for herself. And even in those scenes when it seems like not much is happening, she’ll keep you captivated.
Tár isn’t a fast-paced, heavily emotional drama. It’s slow and subtle, taking its time to create this character, but the payoff is worth it—resulting in a film (as well as a performance) that you’ll hear about often over the next few months.
Tár arrives in select theaters starting on October 21, 2022, expanding to more markets on October 28th. Check your local listings for more information.
Listen to the review on Reel Discovery:
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