The Fall of Tar

How do you make a movie about the dark side of cancel culture when even contemplating the existence of such a dark side is a potential prelude to cancellation? With 2022's Tar, director Todd Field makes an attempt to hit the truth sideways, in the Emily Dickinson sense. He failed to create something that will convert many yet it is a very intelligent film in both conception and execution. Cate Blanchett gives a flawless performance as the title character.

Her name is Tar, which seems as though it might have poetic significance (is she tarred and feathered?). Lydia Tar is a superstar composer and conductor now living and working in Berlin with her wife and colleague, Sharon (Nina Hoss).

Wisely, Field avoided making the movie about a white straight man, which would likely have killed the project before it began because of, as the kids say, reasons. Blanchett's performance is essential because she creates a woman who leads with a firm hand, whose capacity for sympathy is rather limited. Yet it's also clear how useful her emotional strength is, how necessary it was for her to advance in her career. It also makes her a bedrock for her daughter, who can turn to Lydia when grandmother is too scary or when another kid at school bullies her.

Yet it's Lydia's toughness that may be responsible for the suicide of her former protege. Again, Field wisely leave things vague. It's not clear to the characters how much culpability Lydia had, as is often the case in real life. However, in a scene where she deletes dozens of e-mails, warning other orchestra managers and influential people about the former protege's mental instability, it's clear she's responsible for blacklisting the young woman. Was the woman truly, dangerously unstable? Did she and Lydia have an affair? These are possibilities we're left to contemplate as we judge the severity of Lydia's punishment.

Field spends a lot of time developing the world of orchestras and conductors, how they talk about the past and make creative decisions in rehearsals. He believably establishes Lydia's position of respect and reverence in a very credible world, which makes the sudden swiftness of her fall all the more shocking. He works hard to make it believable, though, I would say there are one or two things in the final act that are a little over the top. On the whole, though, it's a brilliantly realised film. I could see the influence of The Red Shoes, Twin Peaks, and Eyes Wide Shut--the last one even before I found out Todd Field played Nick Nightingale, the pianist in Eyes Wide Shut.

Julian Glover has a small but crucial role in the film and he gives a great performance. It was nice to see him after he was axed too soon on Game of Thrones.