TÁR | MOVIE REVIEW | NORTHLANDS

Tar is a tour de force – the character is all-encompassing in this film, and Cate Blanchett absolutely nails the ebbs and flows of her character – she deserves every accolade and award that she wins this season.  This film is one of the best I have seen in a long time, and would definitely be worth a second watch to catch all the nuances that you miss on an initial watch.

Blanchett plays a fictional composer, Lydia Tar, an incredibly intelligent and egotistical woman at the top of her career, the head conductor of the Berlin Orchestra, and about to undertake what should be the pinnacle of an already phenomenal life’s work.  However she is also condescending, autocratic, and appears to believe that she has the right to play with other people’s lives without consequence to herself.  The character demands respect however I never warmed to her – her arrogance and superiority holds us at arm’s length.

(L to R) Sophie Kauer as Olga Metkina and Cate Blanchett stars as Lydia Tár in director Todd Field’s TÁR, a Focus Features release. Credit: Florian Hoffmeister / Focus Feature

One fascinating aspect of this woman with the IQ of a genius, is her lack of worldliness – at one point she asks her assistant if she has deleted all her emails with a particular student, as if she really thinks this would mean that they are actually deleted from history, that there is not a copy accessible on the hard drive, or her lack of understanding of social media and the power of the phone camera.

This is a character study with good twists and  and afterwards my partner and I kept discussing different aspects for the next 24 hours, reviewing it as snippets come back that revealed more and more of the person underneath the glossy cover.

The cast is excellent through-out, though Blanchett does rule over all of them, not only as she is in every scene, but the power of her character is overwhelming.  To quote Empire’s review of Tar “it’s a thrill and a privilege to watch” – I totally agree.

L to R) Sophie Kauer stars as Olga Metkina and Cate Blanchett stars as Lydia Tár in director Todd Field’s TÁR, a Focus Features release. Credit: Courtesy of Focus Features

Check times & dates for Hoyts Cinemas HERE, then head to Northlands for a great movie to go with your popcorn.