Saturday 11 March 2023

Tár (2023) - Movie Review

As soon as I was done with this two-and-a-half-hour film, I audibly asked “What?”. And judging by the amount of giggling I heard from the rest of the audience at the cinema, I wasn’t alone in that reaction. That reaction is still strong within my mind while I’m trying to write this review out, so if this comes across as more aimless and meandering than usual… well, I at least appreciate you recognising that I’m not always like this.

While the story of accomplished orchestra conductor Lydia Tár (Cate Blanchett) involves discussion of abuse of power and sexual abuse in particular, with Lydia being ‘cancelled’ at one point, the film isn’t pointedly about those topics. Much like he did with a convicted pedophile in his last film Little Children, writer/director Todd Field is less interested in outright condemning her actions as bad (a ‘no duh’ statement in both cases to begin with) than he is in humanising them. Rather, this is a character study of Lydia herself, looking at the kind of mind that would not only commit such actions, but would come apart at the seams once they start catching up with her.

In that vein, the specifics of her vocation make perfect sense, both in terms of her character and considering the frequent musings on the separation of the art from the artist. On the former point, the conductor is a position of control, albeit one that is easy to make light of as far just how important that position ultimately is. And through Blanchett’s impeccable performance, she exudes not just a general air of control over her surroundings, but an underlying need for that control as well. The way she converses with everyone around her, complete with masterfully delivered asides that add just the right amount of shade to the conversation, gives her away as someone of influence in her field.

And on the latter point… well, consider the nature of classical music when it comes to the separation question. Particularly when it comes the old guard of classical composers like Bach, Beethoven, Mozart and, especially where this film is concerned, Mahler, whose Fifth Symphony is a central fixture of the narrative. These are the works of people who are not only long-since deceased (taking the ‘can I continue to support these creators?’ add-on out of the equation), but whose work has been translated and transcribed by countless others in their wake, which have in turn been arranged and re-arranged by just as many conductors and composers. It’s an interesting starting point for that question to be brought up, since the first response would likely involve wondering which artist specifically is being brought up here, as each rearrangement carries something different than what preceded it. Same deal with film remakes, come to think of it.

As much as I’d like to point out scenes like when Lydia confronts a student who is dismissive of white guy composers like Bach, one of the most r/thatHappened Debate Bro moments I’ve ever seen in a film, take the wind out of that level of nuance on the subject, the film at least shows enough self-awareness not to turn that into some kind of ‘Woke SJW Gets DESTROYED With Facts & Logic’ masturbatory exercise; again, this isn’t really all that concerned about appealing to arguments surrounding the events shown. And to that end, the extent to which it just sits back and observes Lydia as she slowly (very, very slowly, as per this kind of run time) goes out of her nut when that control slips away from her, is commendable in its own way.

However, there’s also a problem with tone here, as there’s quite a few moments here that induce mindfrag… except I’m not even sure if they were supposed to. The debate scene is one thing, but then there’s Lydia’s mental breakdown accompanied by accordion music, the intense amounts of musicology jargon where the pretence and the actual understanding are difficult to separate, an ending that I can only describe as a cosplay jumpscare; the response to my asking of “What?” was far from the only time that audience had a good laugh at what was going on here, myself included. I mean, yeah, with how much this pokes at the nature of high art and the atmosphere surrounding classical concerts, I can at least comprehend how these moments could be humourous on purpose. But by that same token, this film’s structure is so refined and aggressively ‘prestige that the mood conveyed by the film keeps those moments in an engagement dead zone. It doesn’t help that the jokes themselves are quite tame, right down to a title and its in-film sort-of-explanation ripped right out of heavy metal folklore (üsëlëss ümläüts, änyönë?)

I just… don’t know what to do with this film. Cate Blanchett gets to polish off her skills with unlikeable yet captivating character portraits from films like Blue Jasmine, and she still works in that light, and the way that her need for control and her abuse of it leads to her downfall is done nicely. But with all the tonal mishmash, the extensive passages of dialogue that are both intentionally and unintentionally incomprehensible for outsiders, and the feeling that this really didn’t need to go over two hours to tell this story, I still find myself struggling on the almighty question of “What?” with this. Blanchett on her own is at such top form that I’m tempted to say this is worth checking out just for her, but said temptation is being held back by me flashing back to how much of the film I spent restless and more than a little perturbed at how much this didn’t gel with me as a whole.

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