If you care about the Oscars, you know that the 2023 “Best Leading Actress” category was between Cate Blanchett for this movie and Michelle Yeoh for Everything Everywhere All at Once (2022, my review here). It was Michelle who managed to snatch that Oscar (and deservedly so, in my opinion); however, having now finally watched Tár, I understand why it was close and honestly wouldn’t be mad if it went to Cate, as much as I was happy for Michelle. But Tár relies much more on Cate than Everything Everywhere All at Once on Michelle, as we have several (now Oscar-winning) performances. In Tár, we have some great actors in supporting roles, but as far as making this movie what it was, it was Cate and her alone, not dissimilar to the “isolation” her character feels throughout this movie.
The first thing I noticed about Tár is how cold and detached this movie felt, but the more I delved into it, the more I understood that it was very much on purpose. Cate’s character, Lydia Tár, isn’t the most likeable person to ever exist; she is the exact opposite of that. We quickly sense that something is “up” with her, and the film builds on that feeling. We see her being strict, combative, paranoid, angry, and down, and there might be times we almost feel sorry for her, but the movie never tries to defend her character and everything/anything she did. In this sense, Todd Field‘s direction reminded me of Martin Scorsese, as a few of his movies tiptoe on the fine edge of making you understand an evil character to the point that many people accuse him every once in a while of “glamorising” them. Of course, both Marty and Todd don’t do that whatsoever; you just need to look deeper at those characters and understand the difference between understanding a character doesn’t correlate with sympathising with them.
And Lydia Tár is a brilliant example of this. You might even agree with some things she says throughout this movie, but once you realise what “that thing” is that is haunting her and stopping her from sleeping, I don’t think there will be many who would stand by her. Despite her undisputable talent, she is a flawed person. Many movies here would try to prompt the discussion of whether her talent is what makes her flawed or vice versa (her being a great artist correlates with her having these flaws), but I never got that from this movie. Tár isn’t interested in that because that’s not the point. The point here is for us to understand the fall of this giant and why she had fallen.
As mentioned above, this entire movie rests on Cate’s performance alone. She is in 99% of the scenes, and no matter what she does, you are fascinated, intrigued and maybe a bit scared of her character. Cate portrays her so earnestly and effortlessly that by the end of the movie, you are convinced that Lydia Tár was an actual person (she isn’t) and that Cate was born to play her (she absolutely was). In any other year, she would be the clear frontrunner for the Oscar, but in 2022, Michelle Yeoh ruled supreme.
Besides Cate, the movie has many things to say about our culture, about the state of conversations we seem to be constantly having, like judging historical figures by today’s standards, cancel culture, etc. But it does it in a way I feel it will age well. Plus, Tár is one of those movies that is filled with many “blink and you will miss it” moments; it requires repeating viewings to fully get your head around everything you see, witness and feel. And that is why I can’t give the highest rating because there was something stopping me, and I can’t pinpoint what “it” was. But I strongly believe this movie is one of those that only gets better on repeat viewings, so that should make for a fascinating watch. Plus, due to the epic classical music and Cate Blanchett, it never felt like a chore to watch this film, and it is almost 160 minutes!
Overall, Tár is a fascinating story about a complex character you will google immediately to check for yourself whether or not she is real. The movie convinced me she was real, as everything that happened felt like it could have easily happened. Plus, and I can’t underestimate this, Cate’s performance is one for the books. For most actresses, this would be their career highlight. For Cate, it’s just another year. Tár is a cold, precise movie that will have you question a few things but ultimately will deliver an experience you won’t forget any time soon.
That’s all for this one! Did you see it? What did you think about it? Let me know!
Until next time,
Luke
I think that Blanchett was good in the movie, but the movie itself was too boring and too much music theory jargon talk.
Interesting, I have never felt like that at all. I thought the movie managed to be on the edge of being “too technical”, where we (people who are not part of this world) still understand what is happening in it. I was never confused or bored by what was happening.