Tar (15)

Lydia Tar, principal conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic, is about to begin rehearsals of Mahler's Symphony No 5 with the players, led by her wife Sharon. She also intends to replace assistant conductor Sebastian Brix with fresh blood. When disturbing accusations surface about the maestro and a troubled graduate of her academy, every aspect of her life comes under intense scrutiny.

LondonNet Film Review

Tar (15) Film Review from LondonNet

When we first encounter celebrated orchestra conductor Lydia Tar, played with Oscar-worthy gusto and a panoply of nervous micro-tics by Cate Blanchett, she is eye-masked in the calfskin seat of a private jet, blissfully unaware that her awkward, hunched slumber is being livestreamed on a smartphone over the plane’s wifi. A snarky text exchange between two unnamed people during this unauthorised handheld recording tells us everything we need to know about Tar and the people in her orbit, gossiping about the maestro’s fitful bouts of sleep. “You mean she has a conscience,” jibes the recipient of the video. “Maybe,” curtly counters the sender…

Perception and reality clash like angry cymbals throughout writer-director Todd Field’s masterful and discordant symphony to shifting power dynamics, silent abuses of privilege and cancel culture. Every scene is exquisitely calibrated to set nerves on edge: a woman’s anguished screams piercing the air during a morning run through Lietzensee Park in Berlin, the ticking of a metronome that mysteriously comes to life in a study cupboard, the hum of a fridge insisting to be opened.

Blanchett is ferocious, commanding the same unwavering attention as her morally flawed character, who breathes deeply an air of self-importance but is just as covetous and hypocritical as anyone else on screen. In one breath, she scolds an aspiring conductor (Mark Strong) for wanting to copy her notations for Mahler’s Symphony No 3 (“There is no glory for a robot. Do your own thing”) and in the next, she purchases the same striking red handbag that she has just admired on the arm of a sycophantic fan.

We are neatly introduced to the formidable achievements of Lydia Tar (Blanchett) via an onstage interview with celebrated writer Adam Gopnik (playing himself): Harvard graduate, one of only 15 people to win an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony competitively, and principal conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic. Lydia is about to begin rehearsals of Mahler’s Symphony No 5 with the players, led by her wife Sharon (Nina Hoss), and intends to replace assistant conductor Sebastian Brix (Allan Corduner) with fresh blood. When disturbing accusations surface about the maestro and a troubled graduate of her academy (Sylvia Flote), every aspect of her life comes under intense scrutiny.

Tar is a visually arresting study of creative genius in flux, emboldened by Blanchett’s tour-de-force portrayal of a woman who must fall hard and far to acknowledge any bruises. Director Field and cinematographer Florian Hoffmeister duet on elegantly framed vignettes that ebb and flow like movements of a symphony, reaching unexpected yet thrilling crescendos sometimes when we least expect them. “God watches all of us,” Lydia warns a little girl, who is bullying Sharon’s six-year-old adopted daughter (Mila Bogojevic). When His gaze falls on Lydia, she will be harshly judged.

– Kim Hu