NFSA | 19 May

TÁR Cate Blanchett is perfect in this delirious, sensual drama

No one but Blanchett could have delivered the imperious hauteur necessary for portraying a great musician heading for a crackup or a creative epiphany.
 |  FUSE  |  Canberra
TÁR Cate Blanchett is perfect in this delirious, sensual drama

Throughout the new film written and directed by Todd Field, its title character, a person of exceptionally sensitive hearing and possibly perfect pitch, is almost constantly distracted from her vital activities by extraneous noise. The noises include a doorbell, or something like a doorbell, dinging—our title character, Lydia Tár, almost absently reproduces its two notes on her piano after being ruffled by them—a metronome ticking, people pounding on doors, and more.

And the noises are rendered via an audio design that is often disturbingly precise in its directional placement—we are as startled by them as Lydia is.

From its very first moments, TÁR announces itself as an event. It’s not just another movie—it’s an immersive visual and aural experience. – The A.V. Club

Played with fierce and seamless commitment by Cate Blanchett, Lydia Tár is one of the wonders of the classical realm. She is a virtuoso pianist, an earnest ethnomusicologist, and a purposeful popularizer—she is apparently a member of the EGOT club, which isn’t a common achievement for a classical person. And as a protean conductor about to conclude recording a cycle of Mahler symphonies, Lydia needs to get away from noise to do the work to which she almost stridently commits herself.

  • NATIONAL FILM & SOUND ARCHIVE
  • 6:00 PM
  • 19 MAY 2023

MORE DETAILS & TICKETS

Lydia Tár (Cate Blanchett) is on the verge of cementing her legacy as the greatest living composer-conductor in Western classical music.

She is about to release her autobiography – Tár on Tár – and what promises to be a triumphant live recording of Mahler’s Symphony No. 5. But then Tár’s seemingly perfect life is called into question and begins to spectacularly unravel.

Featuring a powerhouse performance by Cate Blanchett, Tár is both a deeply personal character study of one person, as well as an exploration of corruption through power and the damage that can spread from it.

  • Content Warning: contains suicide themes.
  • Volpi Cup for Best Actress, Venice International Film Festival 2022
  • Dir: Todd Field, M, United States, 2022, 158mins, DCP 

 

 



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