Todd Field's "Tár" is a tough watch. It's just shy of 170 minutes long, and follows a contentious period in the life of a celebrated female conductor, Lydia Tár (Cate Blanchett), currently about to embark on the career capping achievement of recording Mahler's Fifth Symphony. It's helpful to have some familiarity with the classical music world, in order to keep up with the music terminology and orchestra politics. The first female conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic, Tár relies heavily on the help of two women, her wife and concertmaster Sharon (Nina Hoss), and her assistant Francesca (Noémi Merlant).
What surprised me, however, is how "Tár" isn't nearly as much about music as it appears at first glance. Lydia Tár could have been any other kind of artist or creator working at the top of her field, and the story would have played out largely the same. Rather, "Tár" is more interested in the nature of artistic success, how it enables and shields those perceived as great, while at the same time destabilizing and feeding into their worst impulses. Lydia Tár is clearly a great conductor. However, she is also a flawed human being who shows favoritism, disloyalty, hypocrisy, vindictiveness, selfishness, and self-destructive impulses. She lies constantly, especially to herself. Watching Cate Blanchett tear into this role with everything she's got is one of the high points of her career.
"Tár" starts placidly, with a series of meetings, encounters, and presentations showing us various facets of Lydia Tár's life and everyone in it - her manager Eliot (Mark Strong), her young daughter Petra (Mila Bogojevic), and the aging assistant conductor, Sebastian (Allan Corduner), she wants to replace. We see Tár display the dazzling intelligence and brilliance that has won so many admirers, and that comes with a long, long list of accomplishments. Then comes the scene where she teaches a class at Juilliard, and has an unpleasant argument with a student named Max (Zethphan Smith-Gneist). And suddenly, there are cracks in that facade, suggesting that her reputation as a trailblazer and a challenger to the classical music establishment only goes so far. Suddenly, we see her insecurity, meanness, and lack of generosity. As the film goes on, the unfortunate incidents compound, we're left to question how much of Tár's public face is a construct, and whether it's necessary for her to sink to such lows in order to achieve such highs.
I appreciate that Todd Field created such a detailed universe around Lydia Tár that it feels very genuine, populated with all the accouterments of the fascinating classical music world. I've come across more than one viewer who initially assumed that "Tár" was the biopic of a real person. Lydia Tár doesn't exist, but at the same time there have been many Lydia Társ in many different fields and artistic disciplines. Ask which specific figure or controversy she's based on, and you're liable to get a hundred different answers. The choice to make Tár a conductor, however, is a canny one because there aren't any obvious real world analogues, though it feels like there should be.
Music plays a major part in the film, though not as much as I'd like. Blanchett does a credible job playing the piano and working with the orchestra, but the majority of the screen time is spent on Tár's personal life rather than her artistic one. Field treats what music we do hear with great respect, emphasizing the amount of work that goes into preparing for a major performance. The score was composed by Hildur Guðnadóttir, and each additional composer whose work comprises the soundtrack is prominently credited. A key character is played by cellist Sophie Kauer. However, I can't shake the feeling that Field could have gone much further, musically.
I'm still processing "Tár," and questioning if my coolness to it is in response to the film or in response to what I think it ought to be. It's incredibly well made and unapologetically arthouse, with plenty to say. It absolutely has my appreciation, but I don't understand yet why I didn't enjoy it much. On the other hand, with a film like "Tár," enjoyment feels like it's not the point. This is a film to be obsessed with, to be challenged and overwhelmed and disturbed by. Like its main character, the complexity and the difficulty is something to be welcomed. I wonder if it's simply been too long since I've seen a film with such lofty, uncompromising aims.
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