Tár (2022)
To cancel, or not to cancel?
Presentation:
The film is shot on Arri and Signature primes with strikingly white and neutral lighting to convey the grey moral ambiguity of the plot. The digital clean look is definitely by design and works for the story to complement the conservative and rigid world of western classical music. I enjoyed the beautiful white diffused lighting that makes some of the otherwise long droning developments of this drama bearable. The film also has well performed music, but the focus is on the character played by Cate Blanchett, whom does a very good job convincing you that she is German through her blunt directness and communication style. Although I was mesmerized by the world of classical music, the story borders on esoteric and can be very difficult to follow at times if you’re not fully using 100% of your mental energy. Missing one subtle clue is the difference between understanding what’s going on and grasping the social commentary at play. Cate Blanchett is wonderful and nuanced, impressively capturing the ambiguity of genius and evil.
Analysis:
Lydia Tar is a fictional character that represents a certain conservative idealism but is not exactly political in nature. It's nuanced because she has elements of both the left and right in the modern political landscape such as being lesbian while also condemning a student's intersectional ideology. It can then be seen that film wants to investigate evil in its essence rather than a person or belief. Although she is morally grey, there are some aspects that are clearly reprehensible such as grooming and blacklisting, but she does show guilt for some of these things. As for threatening children, being blunt in ideals or treatment of people, there’s some sympathy we can give because of her great contributions to music and motivations. What’s most puzzling are the hallucinogens. The film has several dream sequences in Darren Aronofsky fashion to allude that perhaps her fall of grace didn't really happen. I think whether it was real or not is irrelevant, it’s clear that the film is more about the social commentary of whether cancel culture is necessary for deplorable yet sophisticated figures in our modern world. Normally we’d say yes, but this film is fascinating as it’s from the predator’s point of view that makes this answer deservedly a little less clear cut.
Conclusion:
This film has psychological depth and is Kubrickian in nature. It refreshingly doesn’t spoon feed us good guy or bad guy and allows audiences to determine for themselves the kind of judgment we should have for Lydia Tar. It appreciatively doesn’t condemn, lecture or even commentate, but rather interrogate and present a flawed character for society to judge. If you wanted to see a very complex and intellectually nourishing tale of a great conductor falling from grace, this is one of the best psychological dramas of the year.
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Recommendations
Hollywood film noir doesn’t seem that high up anymore.