Directed by : Todd Field

Don't be so eager to be offended. The narcissism of small differences leads to the most boring kind of conformity. 

Cate Blanchett in a still from 'Tar'

Spoilers ahead...


Lydia Tar, a renowned conductor/composer (Cate Blanchett) is among very few artists who have won all of Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony. She is the conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic, and working towards the final Symphony i.e Gustav Mahler's Symphony no.5. Everything is good, with a loving wife Sharon Goodnow (Nina Hoss) and a daughter Petra (Mila Bogojevic). But, there's something more to Lydia, which comes out whenever there's a mention of mysterious Krista Taylor (Sylvia Flote). The situation is only going to get worse for Lydia when some truths come out. 

Its a strange movie, initially it felt like a biopic on Tar but then no such person exists, so it's most likely inspired from some artist because the detailing is high when it comes to orchestra/classical music. You are bound to feel like an alien watching the first hour if you have like me never heard or shown interest in this kind of music. Of all the famous musical composer names mentioned in the movie, the only one I know about was Beethoven. 

Your patience is going to be tested with a 3 mins long opening credits having no visuals and just a folkish song running in background. And then its followed up by a 12 mins long interview sequence with Lydia and a host at a live stage in presence of large audience. It's asking a lot to keep interest going, I somehow succeeded but some average moviegoer may struggle. Not to say these scenes serve no purpose, we do learn how strong and confident Lydia is, and almost managing it very well in a male dominated society. 

There's two notable scenes, one involving the class scene where a different opinion on Bach offends Tar, or to put it she feels the student is offended by her strong views in favour of Bach. This is the first hint that Lydia might actually be abusing her power. Then, the scene where Lydia threatens a classmate of Petra suggests how far Lydia can go even if in this instance she probably did the right thing. 

The 2nd half picks up pace a lot, as the element of sexual abuse and the mysterious night scenes create a sort of haunting feeling. Both the supporting characters of Francesca Lentini (Noemie Merlant) and Olga Metkina (Sophie Kauer), are fantastic adding more layers to narrative. While Francesca is looking for a promotion working hard day and night for Lydia as her assistant, yet someone else gets the nod. And Olga serves as a new girl in the orchestra letting you draw a parallel with Krista whose story is never shown in detail. 

Felt Nina Hoss is under-utilised and there could had been more of her involvement with Lydia before or after the Krista scandal. Infact the entire movie never tries to go into the dynamics of how Lydia was over-controlling everything, rather it's goes in the way of studying Lydia's fall without showing the rise, we don't even get to see one full orchestra performance, its just the classes or rehearsals. 

Cate Blanchett without any doubt gives a terrific performance, from being a dominating non-sympathetic force at work, to a caring mother to Petra and her growing interest for a new girl. She beautifully takes you through the journey of being famous and how by the end everything falls apart. Love the scene where she is watching an old videotape and tears start rolling down her cheek where its not the performance of the orchestra conductor but his words about music that hits her hard.  Also, enjoyed that hilarious scene when she sings 'you are all going to jail, your apartment's for sale' in sarcastic response to being told to leave the place because of her loud musical disturbances. 

Overall, Tar keeps shifting from being great to boring to interesting. Its worth a watch just for Cate Blanchett. 

My Rating : 6.5/10