TÁRmay be controversial, but it’s also a brilliant triumph for unapologetically tackling topics that most Hollywood films would never dare take on.
Cate Blanchettis widely regarded as one of the greatest actors in history. It’s not hard to understand why, since she boasts a colossal list of individual awards that include two Academy Awards and four Golden Globes. With too many standout performances to mention, as an artist, her hegemonic status at times is certainly merited. Forher most recent Golden Globe win, she played a renowned musician and conductor in the 2022 film,TÁR.
The movie and Blanchett’s performance in it have garnered plenty of critical acclaim. However, it has also divided opinion in many ways too. Just like the main character, the film bravely takes on the controversial topics of wokeness and cancel culture in a manner that would make most Hollywood executives squirm.
Tár Is a Psychological Masterpiece
The movie revolves around Lydia Tár, a composer and conductor who is as passionate about her art form as she is fearless in the way she defends it. While charting her downfall, the film straddles uncomfortable lines around the dynamics of power structures and generational differences with astounding nuance.
Lydia Tár may be a fictional character, but in the film’s world, her inherent and groundbreaking talent is still seen as a triumph for women, since she sheds light on the fact that they are largely underrepresented as orchestra conductors in reality. However, instead of using this enticing opportunity to firmly burrow itself into a media darling comfort zone by championing this angle, the film also bravely chose to challenge seemingly untouchable epithetsof woke culture.
Related:TÁR Review: Cate Blanchett Conducts the Performance of a Lifetime
Blanchett’s hauntingly deep rendition of Lydia seamlessly coalesces a multilayered personality into one elegantly yet brutally flawed character. The actress has at times proven just as controversial in reality too. After recently winning Best Actress at the Critics Choice Awards,Blanchett questioned the “arbitrary nature” of awards. Similarly, back in 2014 when she received her Golden Globe for best actress inBlue Jasmine, she infamously made light of Judy Garland’s death while admittedly being drunk on stage.
In many ways, her role inTÁRas an imperfect genius unfazed by political ideologies naturally draws parallels with the actress herself. While the film is a maelstrom of conflicting views, one scene in particular has monopolized the bulk of its media attention.
That Seminal Scene
While presenting a masterclass at The Juilliard School, Lydia Tár faces a realistically familiar trope found in modern colleges — a student’s rejection of a traditional figurehead that clashes with the accepted dogmas of their generation. The person in question, played by Zethphan Smith-Gneist, is provided with a scathing and unflinching reversal of the credo used and is left unable to handle it when judged by a mirror of the same opinion.
By delving into such an edgy scene with seemingly unabashed candor (and patient but intense camerawork which rarely cuts for an edit), the film evokes a political discourse that few major players in the industry would willfully tackle head on. Not only does the scene open up a dialogue that often polarizes opinion, its true genius subsists in the fact that it manages to achieve this while remaining subtly noncommittal to a particular stance on either side of that dialogue.
That’s not to say that the entire movie revolves around this theme alone. If anything,TÁR’smost complex achievement is that its overarching statement cannot be singularly defined, regardless of what a viewer’s individual proclivities may be. For instance, Blanchett and Smith-Gneist’s characters may face ideological differences, but these are somewhat diluted and stripped away by the common ground they share through their minority statuses as a lesbian and a BIPOC pangender person respectively.
TÁR’s Untouchable Brilliance
Wokeness and cancel culture have at times spawned ideologies that became synonymous with intolerance for opposing viewpoints. Yet, despite diving headlong into a rabbit hole of these precarious subjects, the movie andBlanchett’s portrayal of Lydia Tár, are so masterfully executed that the film has been virtually untouchable.
This could perhaps also be down to the fact that it forces viewers to keep an open mind by presenting both sides of the ideological divide without ever outwardly demonizing either. Whether this was by design or simply a happy coincidence is debatable. However, what isn’t contentious is that the film paints a disturbingly realistic picture of where society is at the moment whether its depictions find favor or not.
Related:Golden Globe Winner Cate Blanchett on TÁR’s Timing: ‘I Think TÁR Could Only Have Been Made Now’
Blanchett has never shied away from playing queer characters before. However, the culture has changed so vastly since her other turns playing marginalized persons that the film chose the perfect time to expand on some of these changes.
Oscar Nods for TÁR and Cate Blanchett
Regardless of whether you find the movie contentious, polarizing, or refreshing and sobering, it’s likely to dominate at the upcoming 95th Academy Awards scheduled for March of this year. Blanchett’s performance already makes her one of the front-runnersto win the Best Actress Award.
She has been almost universally praised for the role, with her performance being described as “astonishing” byThe Hollywood Reporter. Whether the film wins in any of the six categories it was nominated for remains to be seen. However, what is clear is that its game-changing take on modern culture may become an example for other pictures to expand on.
