“Tár”

Movie Review

The 2022 psychological drama movie Tár was written and made by Todd Field. Lydia Tár, a well-known conductor who is accused of sexual assault, is portrayed by Cate Blanchett in the film. Nina Hoss, Noemie Merlant, Sophie Kauer, and Mark Strong make up the supporting cast.

Lydia Tár, the first female principal conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic, is one of the greatest composer-conductors working today. She promotes a number of new endeavors in an interview with Adam Gopnik at The New Yorker Festival, including her impending live recording of Mahler's Fifth Symphony. She depends on Sharon, her ill wife and concertmaster, as well as Francesca, her obedient personal assistant. Eliot Kaplan, a conductor who oversees a fellowship program Lydia established for promising female conductors, joins Lydia for lunch. During their conversation, Lydia discusses replacing her assistant conductor, Sebastian, with Francesca and filling an available cello place in the orchestra.

Later, Lydia gives a Juilliard guest lecture. She encourages students to look past outward differences to the music that lies beneath by making fun of a student named Max who lacks enthusiasm in conducting the classical masters because of his identity politics. After that, Max storms out.

While in New York, Lydia receives "Challenge" by Vita Sackville-West from Krista Taylor, a previous fellow program participant. Lydia may have prepared Krista for a sexually transactional relationship that later ended, according to dream sequences and email correspondence. Lydia puts Krista on a blacklist, destroying her hopes of becoming a conductor.

Lydia observes Russian Olga, one of the applicants, in the restroom prior to a blind audition for a new symphony cellist. Attracted to Olga, Lydia gains her favors by modifying her scorecard to guarantee a berth in the orchestra and a soloist slot in the Edward Elgar cello concerto, which serves as a companion piece to Mahler's 5th. Her relationships with Francesca and Sharon become strained as she works diligently to prepare for a Mahler 5th recording and both of them notice her interest in Olga.

Sebastian is informed by Lydia that he will soon be replaced. Outraged, he claims that the symphony is aware of her preference and that it implies abuse of young ladies. He predicts Francesca will take over, possibly in exchange for sexual favors. Lydia is worried about the charges and wants to replace Sebastian with another applicant.

Krista commits suicide and leaves Lydia a note that contains grave accusations against her. Francesca is told by Lydia to erase any emails that are from or concerning her. Because Krista's parents intend to sue her, Lydia hires a lawyer. Lydia is plagued by nightmares, chronic pain, an increase in sensitivity to sound, and enigmatic scribbles that resemble those Krista used to make. Lydia is also disturbed by screaming women in the distance. Olga and Petra, the daughter she and Sharon adopted, are her sole solace.

She is constantly upset and repulsed by her middle-class neighbor's care for a dying mother while she attempts to produce new tunes. After working on Olga's solo one day, Lydia follows her home to a run-down, abandoned apartment building. A dog scares Lydia, who trips and hurts herself. She tells a fib to Sharon and her orchestra, saying that the wounds were caused by an assault. Francesca resigns secretly from her position after discovering she won't be taking Sebastian's place.

A video of Lydia's Juilliard class that has been altered and taken out of context goes viral, and the New York Post publishes a story that makes accusations against her. While Lydia is in New York to promote her book and take a deposition for Krista's lawsuit, protesters run into her. It is inferred from the deposition that Francesca sent the plaintiff incriminating emails. She brings Olga along in the intention of having sex, but Olga leaves her behind. Angry with the accusations and Lydia's lack of contact or seeking her advice as her spouse, Sharon returns home and departs with Petra.

Lydia is no longer the conductor. Infiltrating the live recording of Mahler's Fifth, she rushes onstage to attack Eliot, her replacement, as the music starts. Her management company advises her to keep quiet, so she goes back to her working-class Staten Island childhood home, where it is discovered that her real name is Linda Tarr. She watches a recording of "What Does Music Mean," the debut Young People's Concert from her instructor Leonard Bernstein. Her brother reprimands her when he gets home.

Lydia eventually gets a job leading an orchestra in the Philippines. She chooses her masseuse at a massage parlor/brothel by picking it out of a glass bowl. Like her orchestra, the escorts are arranged and framed. Lydia rushes outdoors to throw up as a girl who is positioned at #5 in Mahler's No. 5 Symphony glances up into her eyes. In front of a crowd of cosplayers, Lydia leads her brand-new orchestra during the film adaptation of the "Monster Hunter" video game.

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