Tár

Tár
Name	Tár
Director	Todd Field
Producer	Todd Field, Alexandra Milchan, Scott Lambert
Writer	Todd Field
Starring	Cate Blanchett, Nina Hoss, Noémie Merlant, Sophie Kauer, Julian Glover, Allan Corduner, Mark Strong
Music	Hildur Guðnadóttir
Cinematography	Florian Hoffmeister
Editing	Monika Willi
Studio	Standard Film Company, EMJAG Productions
Distributor	Focus Features
Released	1 September 2022 (Venice Film Festival), 7 October 2022 (United States)
Runtime	158 minutes
Country	United States, Germany
Language	English, German

Tár is a 2022 psychological drama film written and directed by Todd Field, marking his return to feature filmmaking after a sixteen-year hiatus. The film stars Cate Blanchett as the eponymous protagonist, a renowned composer and conductor whose life begins to unravel amidst allegations of misconduct. Premiering at the Venice Film Festival, where Blanchett won the Volpi Cup for Best Actress, the film explores themes of power, art, and cancel culture within the elite world of classical music.

Plot

The narrative follows Lydia Tár, the groundbreaking chief conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic, as she prepares a pivotal live recording of Gustav Mahler's Fifth Symphony and the publication of her memoir. Her meticulously controlled world, which includes her wife, orchestra concertmaster Sharon Goodnow, and a new assistant, Francesca Lentini, starts to fracture. Past relationships with a former protégée, Krista Taylor, surface through enigmatic emails, coinciding with Lydia's favoritism towards a young Russian cellist, Olga Metkina. As anonymous online allegations and professional betrayals mount, her behavior becomes increasingly erratic, leading to a catastrophic confrontation during a live performance at Juilliard and a precipitous fall from grace that finds her conducting a "Monster Hunter" concert in Southeast Asia.

Cast

* Cate Blanchett as Lydia Tár * Nina Hoss as Sharon Goodnow, Tár's wife and the concertmaster * Noémie Merlant as Francesca Lentini, Tár's personal assistant * Sophie Kauer as Olga Metkina, a young cellist in the orchestra * Julian Glover as Andris Davis, a former mentor * Allan Corduner as Sebastian Brix, the orchestra manager * Mark Strong as Eliot Kaplan, a financier and amateur conductor * Sylvia Flote as Krista Taylor, a former fellow of the Accordion Foundation * Adam Gopnik as himself, in a cameo interviewing Tár

Production

The project originated from an original screenplay by Todd Field, developed with Cate Blanchett in mind. Principal photography took place in late 2021 primarily in Berlin, with key locations including the Berliner Philharmonie and the Deutsche Oper Berlin. Cinematographer Florian Hoffmeister utilized a restrained, observational style. The score was composed by Hildur Guðnadóttir, an Academy Award winner for *Joker*, while Blanchett underwent extensive training to credibly portray a conductor, working with musicians like Natalie Murray Beale and former Boston Symphony Orchestra conductor Jorge Mester.

Themes

The film is a complex examination of power, genius, and accountability, set against the backdrop of the contemporary cultural reckoning. It interrogates the mythology of the artistic maestro, questioning the separation of art from the artist through Tár's alleged exploitation of her position. Themes of identity, perception, and self-delusion are woven throughout, highlighted by motifs of surveillance and digital ghosts. The narrative also delves into the insular, politicized hierarchies of the classical music institution, drawing implicit parallels to real-world figures like Leonard Bernstein, James Levine, and Carlos Kleiber.

Release

*Tár* had its world premiere as the opening night film at the 79th Venice International Film Festival on September 1, 2022. It was subsequently presented at the 2022 New York Film Festival and the 2022 Telluride Film Festival. Focus Features released the film theatrically in the United States on October 7, 2022, followed by a United Kingdom release from Universal Pictures on January 13, 2023.

Reception

The film received widespread critical acclaim, with particular praise for Todd Field's screenplay and direction and a career-best performance from Cate Blanchett. It was nominated for six Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Actress. It also won BAFTA awards for Best Actress and Best Original Screenplay. Discussions around the film often centered on its ambiguous treatment of its protagonist's guilt and its nuanced portrait of cancel culture within the rarefied world of institutions like the Berlin Philharmonic and the New York Philharmonic.

Category:2022 films Category:American psychological drama films Category:German drama films Category:Films about classical music Category:Films set in Berlin