If Top Gun: Maverick is the movie for 80’s action movie loving fanatics then Tár is that for orchestra loving classical music fanatics…who also love physiological thrillers. Tár (written and directed by Todd Field) is a one of a kind film that centres around the world of classical musical, a story focal point that isn’t normally explored in popular cinema. After it’s weird backwards credit opening and the first ten minutes you find yourself at the centre of this story, willing to watch and wait the two and a half hours to figure out Cate Blanchett’s Tár.
Without spoiling the film Tár follows Cate Blanchett’s character named Tár who is a famous and well known conductor. The film follows her dealing with her everyday life, preparing one of her biggest performances yet, book launches and new orchestra members. It might not sound very enthralling yet you can’t help but watch to see whether she will rise or fall.
As predicted Cate Blanchett is already winning awards for there performance in the film and rightfully so. Her character’s long speeches and teaching are inspiring and then her downfalls are silencing. She finds small noises irritating, I can agree with that, and hates people trying to copy or beat her. Cate Blanchett alone is the sole reason to see Tár.
Going into the film having not seen a trailer for it left me quite surprised, from the outset it looks like a film I probably wouldn’t enjoy. The posters, all I had seen before the screening, didn’t shout psychological thriller but that is the films surprising and greatest twist. Tár sets itself up for a story that you want to tell your friends about but don’t want to spoil, it’s a story that is very modern day yet it isn’t entirely predictable unlike some more recent films.
Tár’s production is another high rating on it’s orchestral rating card as the soundtrack/score alone is a work of art. Yes it is like other film scores but they have captured the the perfect mix of film score and simply going to see a world famous orchestra. The large sets with Blanchett conducting violently in-front of the orchestra are massive yet intimate and the camera is constantly close to the point of discomfort or far away enough that Tár looks small and lonely to the point of discomfort.
Tár will go down as one of Cate Blanchett’s best performances and that alone is a high bar to reach. Blanchett doesn’t carry the film though as it can easily stand tall on it’s own but it’s main character conductor is crucial and well orchestrated for this film to be a rewatchable psychological thriller to watch for years to come.
Score: 5/5