Skip to main content

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.

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

How to Host a Baby

-You have assumed responsibility for a mewling, puking ball of life, a yellow-lab pup. He will spit his half-digested kibble all over your shoes, all over your hard-cover edition of Jennifer Haigh's novel  Faith . He will eat your tables, your chairs, your "I {Heart] Montessori" magnet, placed too low on the fridge. When you try to watch Bette Davis in  Hush Hush Sweet Charlotte , on your TV, your dog will bark through the murder-prologue, for no apparent reason. He will whimper through Lena Dunham's  Girls , such that you have to rewind several times to catch every nuance of Andrew Rannells's ad-libbing--and, still, you'll have a nagging suspicion you've missed something. Your dog will poop on the kitchen floor, in the hallway, between the tiny bars of his crate. He'll announce his wakefulness at 5 AM, 2 AM, or while you and another human are mid-coitus. All this, and you get outside, and it's: "Don't let him pee on my tulips!" When...
3 comments
Read more

The Death of Bergoglio

  It's frustrating for me to hear Bergoglio described as "the less awful pope"--because awful is still awful. I think I get fixated on ideas of purity, which can be juvenile, but putting that aside, here are some things that Bergoglio could have done and did not. (I'm quoting from a survivor of sexual abuse at the hands of the Church.) He could levy the harshest penalty, excommunication, against a dozen or more of the most egregious abuse enabling church officials. (He's done this to no enablers, or predators for that matter.) He could insist that every diocese and religious order turn over every record they have about suspected and known abusers to law enforcement. Francis could order every prelate on the planet to post on his diocesan website the names of every proven, admitted and credibly accused child molesting cleric. (Imagine how much safer children would be if police, prosecutors, parents and the public knew the identities of these potentially dangerous me...
1 comment
Read more

Raymond Carver: "What's in Alaska?"

Outside, Mary held Jack's arm and walked with her head down. They moved slowly on the sidewalk. He listened to the scuffing sounds her shoes made. He heard the sharp and separate sound of a dog barking and above that a murmuring of very distant traffic.  She raised her head. "When we get home, Jack, I want to be fucked, talked to, diverted. Divert me, Jack. I need to be diverted tonight." She tightened her hold on his arm. He could feel the dampness in that shoe. He unlocked the door and flipped the light. "Come to bed," she said. "I'm coming," he said. He went to the kitchen and drank two glasses of water. He turned off the living-room light and felt his way along the wall into the bedroom. "Jack!" she yelled. "Jack!" "Jesus Christ, it's me!" he said. "I'm trying to get the light on." He found the lamp, and she sat up in bed. Her eyes were bright. He pulled the stem on the alarm and b...
1 comment
Read more