Review of TÁR (2022) by Compi24 — 01 Nov 2022

As much as I hate to be in the minority on this one, I just have to come to terms with the fact that "Tár" wasn't for me. That's not to say I don't appreciate what this movie has set out to do and what it manages to achieve.

In fact, I'd say Todd Field has directed this picture with a commendably sure hand. I think the cinematography, sound design and editing are all top notch and Cate Blanchett — to no one's surprise — is absolutely fantastic in this.

For me, I think it's the approach to the thematic material and the length that ultimately let me down. Make no mistake, the subject matter at hand is a decent place to start and the film eventually takes its conversations involving "the death of the author" into a place that I think most would agree is correct.

I just felt myself wishing for more attention to be directed towards that moral conundrum. With the whole "death of the author" debate essentially boiling down to the question, "can an artist (warts and all) truly be separated from their work?" Field's piece effectively gives us one side of that debate — the artist and their flaws.

What we don't get nearly enough of is that other component — their work. Sure, we see the titular character conducting an orchestra — essentially interpreting another artist's work (in this case Gustav Mahler) — but what of her own work? To that end, all we have to go off of is what we're told.

We're told, "Lydia Tár achieved 'x' feat related to composing." We're told, "Lydia Tár has 'x' amount of accolades related to writing music." We're told, "Lydia Tár is the most 'x' composer working today.

" We don't, however, see her do much "authorship" at all in this. Instead, it's all about her conducting of somebody else's work rather than her own compositional prowess. Is that enough to illustrate the actual trade-off and ethical tension between someone crafting pieces of art that are loved by so man and the lives that this same person may or may not have destroyed along the way? In my case, no.

For others, it seems like it is. Again, I think there's a great deal to like here. For me, I just couldn't justify how esoteric and long-winded things got.