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Cate Blanchett: "Tar"

 Lydia Tar loves music; we know this, because she watches old clips of Bernstein lectures, and she weeps with joy.


Lydia's talent leads to an EGOT and a prestigious role in Berlin. (London and New York are great, but THEY ARE NOT BERLIN.)

The problem is that Lydia has a mean streak: She reduces a small child to tears, she (sort of?) drives a fallen protege to suicide, she humiliates her lead cellist without warning, and she shouts at a driver (maybe when the driver deserves, at most, a quiet word, in private).

Additionally, Lydia breaks the rules. She destroys evidence in an investigation, and she cheats during an audition. A tradition in orchestras requires that prospective recruits play their prepared excerpts behind a screen--so that the conductor renders verdicts that are based purely on "sound." (The conductor isn't considering race, or gender, or manner of dress.) But Lydia peers beneath the screen, makes some quick deductions about footwear, and changes her verdict--so that a new crush gets a job (a job that is "unearned").

Lydia's tyrannical behavior is an open secret; it's just hard to address the behavior because (like the Church, or Weinstein) Lydia herself is so (superficially) powerful. 

Todd Field, the writer, is subversive; Lydia does have a downfall, but it's not because of a heroic crusader. Someone manipulative has edited footage of Lydia to make her seem to say things she hasn't said; context is removed, and a filmed work of fiction becomes something like a smoking gun. And then the world doesn't know what to do with Lydia Tar; she has passion, and a gift, so she doesn't disappear. She finds herself conducting a kind of "Star Trek" score for costumed weirdos in an unnamed country; her "Mahler days" are over.

I know a Lydia Tár: someone with money who is allowed to comport herself in a childish way. She is weak and cruel, and also charismatic and sometimes well-intentioned. It's a mild headache to be in her company, but she won't be exiting from any stages (because of superficial power, and because of money). Bad behavior is excused, and excused again--because of the checkbook.

For this reason, I enjoyed "Tar." A slice of life. You don't get that from movies, on a reliable basis. I think that Field has third-act problems--I thought this about "In the Bedroom," as well--but I'm just happy that he is trying, and he is stretching himself, after so many years of silence. I hope, next, he will attempt something equally bold and unnerving.

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