TÁR
TÁR (2022)
Two friends and I sauntered into the Aldgate Curzon cinema for a 5PM showing of Todd Fields’s Tár at 17:05. We entered the auditorium and to our shame the film had started. “Wow” I thought “the Curzon doesn’t mess about. Good for them” I also thought “how refreshing, no 30 minute adverts, i’ll be home for a decent hour”. Grandad. Alas after 10 minutes the screen discreetly dissolved into a name-card saying ‘Cate Blnchett’ and then the credits started to roll. We’d gotten our timings wrong and just watched the end of the film. Thank God it wasn’t The Sixth Sense.
It didn’t occur to us that anything was amis, however, because this closing 10 minutes was so understated and quiet it felt like a beginning. There was zero momentum to a climax. Nobody dashing to meet a deadline or express their undying love. Just a casual fade. Just every day. And this is actually a perfect description of Tár.
Cate Blanchett plays Lydia Tár; a decorated classical musician and composer who’s list of accomplishments are as long as Blanchett’s smirk. Leading the Berlin Philharmonic, we follow Tár as she navigates the needs of her wife and child, the ever intrusive social media and the demands of her orchestra family.
To the credit of the writer/director, the cinematographer, actors et al.. It does feel like you’re watching a documentary. This isn’t a performance by Blanchett but a person being caught on camera. So much so that there is an entire subculture who think the fictitious Tár is a biopic.
But therein lies my problem. It was too real. Where was the flare? The magic? The passion? And I can champion drab. Look at The Office.
On paper everyone excels. And there are some laugh-out-loud line readings. However, as someone negotiating London’s grey, cold, wet January I craved a little more colour and camp. I felt like that teenage version of me who sat down in the lounge to watch The Deer Hunter knowing it was considered a classic and had scooped all the top Oscars and yet couldn’t understand why I was so disengaged. The character is fascinating. And her downfall by social media execution is enthralling. I love that its set in real time (literally post-pandemic 2022) and yet, it is visually dull. Everything is beige. The pinewood of the orchestra. The wood panels of the offices. The tan leather chairs.
It becomes apparent when Lydia sits down to lunch with her perspective prey and the student devours her colourful lunch. I realised I was captivated because we’d been deprived of any real action outside of Lydia’s controlled environment.
The always outstanding Blanchett is of course a masterclass in acting. Note how most of her long monologues are delivered in a Woody Allen style single shot. She’s captivating. And she has two Oscars to prove it.
For realism 10 thumbs up. However for entertainment…
A Cold Concrete 6 Thumbs up!
