Lydia Tár will go down in film history like Tony Montana and Travis Bickle did. Already now the – entirely fictional – Tár has a considerable amount of followers on social media, and people on Twitter are half-seriously thinking about what Lydia Tár would say about this or that incident or they write “OMG I saw Lydia Tár“ when they see Cate Blanchett somewhere.

This might be because director Todd Field has smoothly integrated his protagonist into the real world of music. There‘s the Berlin Philharmonic, which Lydia Tár conducts, as well as celebrities which she namedrops so effortlessly, like Leonard “Lenny“ Bernstein or Antonia Brico. In the almost 10 minute scene right at the beginning of the film, Adam Gopnik, the real writer of the real New Yorker magazine, interviews the fictional Lydia Tár about her work as a conductor and her understanding of music during a fictional interview at the New Yorker Festival. The scene is brave (nothing happens in it except for the rather matter-of-fact dialogue) and funny (the small vanities of the cultural elite are perfectly captured) and it‘s worth listening to, because almost everything that Tár says here will be commented on, disproved or mirrored later on in the film.

The interview shows Lydia at the height of her powers. She confidently listens to Gopnik list her achievements. She speaks about her work charismatically, adds a little joke here and there, and mentions her good friend “Lenny“ and is clearly aware of her effect. Cate Blanchett as Tár shines and sparkles, foreshadowing abysses and a complicated life which we never find out about in detail. She plays Lydia Tár with multiple facets and ambivalence, an equally mysterious-iconic hero and deeply toxic personality who adapts to her surroundings like a chameleon, pulling the threads and manipulating with every sentence.

The New Yorker interview marks the beginning of her downfall. Shortly after, we see how she sadistically mocks a student of color in a university seminar who isn‘t a fan of Bach for political reasons. The scene is a masterstroke of identity and art discourse, but most of all it shows that Lydia is losing her touch for the zeitgeist, for what is currently the most in demand positioning. And, of course, someone is filming this. While Lydia is busy scheming about staff issues at the philharmonic and wanting to “mentor“ a new young cellist, rumors about a former student who killed herself after having an affair with Tár catch up with her.

Todd Field (LITTLE CHILDREN) tells the tale of a downfall slowly and precisely and creates a lot of tension. He precisely dissects the mechanisms with which Lydia plays with her power, also in her relationship with orchestra head Sharon (fantastically present with small gestures: Nina Hoss) yet also has sympathy for the manipulative climber from humble beginnings who perfectly plays with the habitus of high culture.

TÁR is a thriller about the rise and fall of a conductor. TÁR is a horror film in which Lydia‘s repressions manifest in noise and ticks. TÁR is a comedy about high culture in the influencer age. TÁR is one of the most interesting films of the year.

Hendrike Bake

Translation: Elinor Lewy