“At least an hour too long” is rarely the description of a winning film. And yet, there it is. The editor obviously took a nap while Tár was spliced together. No, no, please. Let’s make this scene of indulgent bilingualism even longer; [monotone]I want to be utterly and completely shocked when Lydia Tár (Cate Blanchett) gets her comeuppance[/monotone].
Did I say “bilingual?” Silly me. International superstar, ground-breaking, Mahler-worshipping composer/maestro Lydia Tár speaks at least three languages fluently. How she learned all that from her blue-collar Staten Island stomping ground is a mystery, but, hey, the film don’t care about who she was, dig?
I had to look up whether Lydia Tár was a real person. The opening interview confused me as no face-to-face with a composer could be this long, this detailed, and this kiss-ass without Lydia Tár being real, could it? Hey, congrats on doing a ton of research, fellas. You truly made me believe this could be a biopic, rather than a personal Titanic. Lydia Tár is the fictional world famous concertmaster for the Berlin Philharmonic. In her copious free time, she attends book signings, interviews, and subtly humiliates Juilliard students. (I can just imagine the hype: “Students, today we have a guest insulter!”)
When not jet-setting, Lydia lives with her wife (Nina Hoss) –the first violinist in the Berlin Philharmonic, their daughter, and a flat that looks like a museum. The people in her personal world are secondary. Lydia’s whole life is musical stage –as one would expect. Even her jogging seems to exist solely for the purpose of her public spotlight.
Only Cate Blanchett could play a character this pretentious. Tilda Swinton would give it a run, but only Cate could make you believe that a woman who employs fifty-cent words like running water while brow-beating a student is somehow consistently in the right. That takes a huge amount of talent. Does it make for a great scene … ? Not especially. You know one thing Tár was seriously and surprisingly lacking? A decent soundtrack. Almost all the music in the film is –quite literally- performative, as in performed. By Cate, by rivals, by students, by the philharmonic. And because it’s performed, it’s done in snippets.
And God help
you if you don’t have an ear for musical subtlety; Tár will discuss at endless length what you should be hearing but almost never juxtaposes correct and incorrect in a way that any but the dedicated of musicians will understand. I can live with that; it just makes for a film that is longer than it needs be.
And, clearly, I don’t understand accents. Or, specifically, why one needs an accent in a one-syllable word. Or how one grows up in Staten Island with a brother named Tony and emerges with the surname “Tár.” Is it “Tony Tár” as well? I suppose this is born out of deliberate pretention. “Tony from Staten Island” doesn’t rise to maestro of the Berlin Philharmonic, y’know? Unfortunately, this is all sadly relevant. Lydia Tár is a great role. It one specifically designed to bring a quality actress like Cate Blanchett an Oscar nomination, but not an Oscar victory. The role is too niche, the film is too long, and, ultimately, too depressing. Just imagine the accessibility needed to win over an entire Oscar audience; it doesn’t exist here. I will deny Blanchett’s skill not one iota; I truly believed she was a world-class composer. But, let’s be real – Tár is 158 minutes. I’d guess that 150 of them contain Cate Blanchett acting at us. Maybe the level of detail involved was necessary for a target audience of people who like to imagine musicians falling from grace. For people who just want to be entertained? Nobody needs that much Blanchett.
There once was a composer named Tár
Who rose up in her ranks very far
But up arose scandal
That she couldn’t quite Handel
Babe, you better learn the guitar
Rated R, 158 Minutes
Director: Todd Field
Writer: Todd Field
Genre: The fall of woman
Type of being most likely to enjoy this film: Critics
Type of being least likely to enjoy this film: This critic, apparently
