Tar - A Movie Review

Are you as knowledgeable about classical music as Lydia Tar?

Tar is a 2022 film. Lydia Tar is widely considered a classical music composer. Tough to please, Lydia does not let anyone stand in her way. When a student threatens to ruin her reputation, it sets Lydia off the edge.

Tar is a potent cinematic attainment, praising astute camera techniques and a remarkable performance by Cate Blanchette. The problem with Tar is that it’s drowned by repetitive scenes, evading a coherent storyline.

Bestowing a career-breaking performance by Cate Blanchette, she put her skills to the test. Don’t ever mess with Lydia Tar. Blanchette memorized several lengthy monologues. Blanchette studied this personality, becoming the character and controlling her voice at the right tempo.

Aside from Blanchette’s performance, Lydia Tar is an enigma. The film chose a more subtle route. Letting viewers figure out the plot is a beneficial tactic, but for films like Tar, the details, character background, and plot elements are never fully established.

Joining Blanchette in the cast are Nina Hoss, Noemie Merlant, Mark Strong, Julian Glover, and Allan Corduner. Like Lydia, the characters are never fully established.

The filmmaking in Tar is stupendous. Todd Field studied all the shots of the film, making Lydia intimidating. The camera is always in Lydia’s perspective. She is the subject of all conversations.

There is a memorable scene achieved in one conceivable shot. Teaching a class, Lydia puts a student on the spot, walking about the room happily appealing to her intellect of classical music.

Weirdly, Tar got snubbed from a nomination for sound. Sound has a significant role, building tension in each scene and radiating Lydia’s feelings.

Amidst the impressive filmmaking, it is difficult to perceive what the story entails. Was Lydia supposed to be losing her mind? She gets up every night searching for a noise. I don’t understand the scene where she hears a woman screaming in the park.

Repeating several sequences, Lydia works on music, goes out for a run, conducts orchestra rehearsal, then has lunch with a colleague until waking up to a strange noise in the middle of the night. This sequence repeats itself frequently. As to what it’s building up to, I’m not sure.

There’s a feud between Lydia and her neighbor. What did it have to do with anything? This subplot was not necessary. There’s a weird scene where Lydia had to help her neighbor’s naked mother sit back on a toilet. And it’s never brought up again. Lydia’s story with her family merited more attention than the neighbor.

I wanted to know more about the history of the student that is harassing her. Why did Lydia get attacked? What kind of person is she? Did she manipulate a student into apparent suicide? The film leaves us hanging with so many unanswered questions. Filmmakers ignore an essential scene. It’s pivotal to the revelation of Lydia’s character.

In other reviews of the film, reviewers remarked how disturbing Tar was. Taking the advice to watch it during the day instead of a night, Tar is a film that will keep you up at night, not because of its content but due to the array of unanswered questions.

After watching it, I’m not sure what was unsettling about it. Disturbing scenes are only implied or kept offscreen, like mysterious people beating up Lydia. The film grows more and more bizarre in the third act.

Until I did my research for the film, I thought Tar was a true story. It’s not. Tar is fictional. Take a look at Tar during the Oscar season.