Tár Review: Cate Blanchett Delivers the Performance of Her Career

Blanchett has never been better

Actor-turned-director Todd Field made us wait 16 years between Little Children and Tár, and friends, it was well worth the wait. In a career of great performances, Cate Blanchett delivers what can be considered the pinnacle of her body of work as Lydia Tár, a beleaguered, arrogant, obsessive, corrupt, and talented symphony conductor in crisis in this dark character study.

Writer-director Field’s film focuses on maestro Lydia Tár, the female conductor of a renowned German orchestra. First introduced to Tár on stage in a New Yorker conversation with journalist Adam Gopnik (playing himself), she is a magnetic, effusive, and passionate woman who is serious about both her legacy and classical music. Her life’s work is culminating in a live recording of Gustav Mahler’s fifth symphony that will elevate her already impressive career into the stratosphere. Well put together in custom-tailored suits and crisp collared shirts in her professional life as the rockstar conductor, Lydia’s off-stage life is messier.

With a live-in romantic relationship with her first hair violin Sharon (Nina Hoss) and daughter Petra, her life slowly starts to fall apart at the seams as a young Russian cellist Olga (Sophie Kauer) arrives. With tortured and dismissed young female protégés left in her wake, Lydia has an arrogance that makes her feel invincible. When allegations of grooming, corruption, and bullying against her begin to surface, she starts to slowly, methodically spiral out of control as she faces the consequences of her actions and accountability.

It should come as no surprise that Field, who previously directed In The Bedroom and Little Children, again delivers a nuanced, slow-burning drama. At times dipping into melodrama territory, Field’s story perfectly chronicles a star’s fall from grace amid a society that trumpets “cancel culture”. Specifically written for Blanchett, Field’s narrative sets Lydia up as the hero, and she truly is through her own faulty perception. Here, Field relies on his tested techniques of slow reveals of character (accompanied by Hildur Guðnadóttir’s wonderful score) as Tár builds and builds to its explosive climax and ambiguous denouement as viewers see the maestro slip further and further away from her public persona.

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No other actor could have delivered the virtuoso performance Blanchett does in Tár. Always a chameleon who disappears into her roles (okay, maybe we will choose to forget Where’d You Go, Bernadette?) Blanchett seems to effortlessly become her characters, whether it be royalty in Elizabeth, a siren psychologist in Nightmare Alley or a neurotic housewife in Blue Jasmine. In Tár, Blanchett once again embodies a woman who is deeply unlikeable but wholly and utterly engrossing. In nearly every single scene of the film’s nearly two-and-a-half-hour runtime, it is hard to take your eyes off of Blanchett as she bulldozers her way through colleagues, friends, family and allies.

Among Lydia’s champions and fans is her assistant Francesca (Noémie Merlant). Suffering through Lydia’s whims and hectic schedule, Francesca is patient, hoping that one day she will be named Lydia’s assistant conductor – a dream that has her abandon her own morals until it’s too late. Portrait Of A Lady On Fire star Merlant, (who was recently mesmerizing as the lead in the TIFF post-partum drama Baby Ruby) is a standout in the film, holding her own against Blanchett’s blinding star power.

Each one of Field’s previous two films have been heralded as career-bests for him, and Tár is no exception. Field has only further honed his skills to deliver one of 2022’s best films that will no doubt dominate awards season. Let’s just hope he doesn’t make us wait another 16 years for his next feature.

Tár opens in Toronto on October 14th, Montreal and Vancouver on October 21st, expanding to additional cities on October 28th.

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