Smash Cut

Tag: Cate Blanchett

  • ‘TÁR’ wants you to kill your heroes | review and analysis

    ‘TÁR’ wants you to kill your heroes | review and analysis

    TÁR follows world-renowned conductor-composer Lydia Tár as she prepares for a career-defining concert as the objectionable actions of her past come back to haunt her.

    In one of the opening scenes of TÁR, director Todd Field’s first feature film in nearly two decades, which is playing at the 60th New York Film Festival, world-renowned composer-conductor Lydia Tár (Cate Blanchett) chides a BIPOC gender non-conforming Julliard student who suggests he can’t appreciate Bach as he was a racist white man. Tár—a self-proclaimed “Uhaul lesbian” draped in harshly structured suits pulled out of a Muji catalog—retorts, “you must stand in front of your audience and God and obliterate yourself.” She’s saying you need to compromise your humanity—your values, identity, and beliefs—for your craft. And the way Blanchett delivers the stunning monologue, which is presented as an unbroken ten-plus minute take, convinces you that she’s right. 

    She’s not, of course. And over the course of two-and-a-half hours, we’ll learn exactly why.

    Ironically, Lydia is unapologetically her human self in every moment of TÁR—something we as the audience can’t help but find admirable and maybe even charming (she’s funny!)… until it’s not.

    Refreshingly, Field presents her as an anti-hero, a title often reserved for male characters. Like it’s impossible for a woman to be both “difficult” and a human at the same time. The concept is broken down in Brett Martin’s book Difficult Men, which explores the television revolution of the 2000s through the villainous men we rooted for until the end—Don Draper in Mad Men, Tony Soprano in The Sopranos, Walter White in Breaking Bad. However, often times the women in those stories are simply seen as the villain—Skylar White in Breaking Bad being the prime example.

    TÁR, on the other hand, is on Lydia’s side. Or perhaps, we the audience are on her side and the movie challenges us to stay on her side similarly to her partner (in both life and the orchestra) Sharon Goodnow (Nina Hoss). However, she makes it difficult at every turn. We learn that Lydia, the first female conductor of the Berliner Philharmoniker in Germany, is set to conduct a recording of the fifth symphony of legend Gustav Mahler. An accomplishment that will cement her greatness status even more than the EGOT she already achieved—Mel Brooks, eat your heart out. 

    Though she’s more than devoted to the work as we see through prep for the concert and rehearsals, Lydia is human after all despite the android-like demeanor she maintains. It comes in handy when she bullies her young adopted daughter Petra’s (Mila Bogojevic) bully into leaving her alone. She hilariously approaches and says, “I am Petra’s father” before assuring her if she doesn’t leave her daughter alone that she will get her. I’d be terrified too. However, it also prevents her from seeing her true nature like when she’s auditioning new members for the orchestra and cheats the blind audition system to admit young Russian cellist Olga Metkina (Sophie Kauer) to whom she takes a liking.

    ADVERTISEMENT

    But like any good anti-hero story, Lydia’s past eventually catches up to her and exposes her truest human nature—and forces us to reckon with how we treat, forgive, and don’t forgive genius. A past protégé that she tries to sweep under the rug, political intrigue around the orchestra (who knew philharmonics were so dramatic!), and her interest in Olga all eventually start to crush the perfect world she’s built around her. It leads to the movie exploring the power dynamics of fame (and grooming), cancel culture, and the narcissism of greatness.

    That’s not to say the movie is preachy or precious about those themes. TÁR is a surprisingly fun movie that moves swiftly through its two-and-a-half-hour runtime.

    Lydia herself is a few degrees removed from full-blown satire—not quite Julia Louis-Dreyfus screaming about croissants and dildos in Veep but close. And at first, that’s part of her charm until you see that Lydia’s emotional crassness goes beyond words and into action. But when the world puts you on a sky-high pedestal, you’re bound to get too close to the sun. Is Lydia a self-imposed victim of circumstance or is she a sociopathic narcissist? The movie’s ending—completely unexpected—doesn’t give us the answer. Yet, it’s still boldly satisfying like everything else about TÁR. Like a perfectly composed symphony, every note has a purpose—even the ones that don’t seem to.

    ADVERTISEMENT

    However what really pushes TÁR into greatness is that Lydia isn’t actually our point-of-view character.

    However, what really pushes TÁR into greatness is that Lydia isn’t actually our point-of-view character. Sure, we see the events of the movie from her perspective, but it’s actually Sharon who represents us in the movie. When Tár makes the rash decision to hold auditions for a cello solo rather than giving it to the first chair as is tradition—in an effort to give the solo to Olga—Sharon’s confused, disturbed, then angry face says it all. When things finally come crumbling down, Sharon delivers the final blow. Hoss, with far less screen time and internal exploration, makes Sharon into the movie’s most complex character. 

    Still, it’s Blanchett’s performance that feels like a magnum opus—in a career that seems to hit a peak but then continues to climb. I can’t fathom that Tár is fictional because she makes her so real. Like I could open Wikipedia and go on a bender through her early life, personal life (“Tár is openly gay”), and controversies section. It’s what makes TÁR one of the year’s greatest. So rarely does a movie feel so imminently relevant while also having no agenda, no references, and no preconceived notions. TÁR is a movie to chew over. To analyze like a historian. If only those dead old white guys were this interesting.

    ADVERTISEMENT

    More movies, less problems

    Hey! I’m Karl. You can find me on Twitter and Letterboxd. I’m also a Tomatometer-approved critic.

    💌 Sign up for our weekly email newsletter with movie recommendations available to stream.

    ADVERTISEMENT
  • ‘The House with a Clock in Its Walls’ review — A bizarre and scary family movie

    ‘The House with a Clock in Its Walls’ review — A bizarre and scary family movie

    The House with a Clock in Its Walls is too deeply weird to not at least admire the effort.

    Director Eli Roth is best known for his violent and gory action and horror movies like Cabin Fever, Death Wish, and the Hostel series. So it was surprising to see him tackle the a family-friendly PG movie based on the John Bellairs novel The House with a Clock in Its Walls. And his foray into this dark young adult fantasy is given some serious power with Cate Blanchett and Jack Black playing a witch and warlock trying to fight back an evil that has the potential to doom the world. However, the movie doesn’t match the amount of effort they are both—in particular, Blanchett—are putting in. 

    That’s not for lack of trying. Roth makes interesting choices, especially for a supposedly family-friendly movie. Truly, The House with a Clock in Its Walls is too deeply weird to not at least admire the effort that went into making it. However, it feels like Roth is constantly fighting the urge to make the movie scarier and more intense than its PG rating allows. Still, though, the movie is told from the perspective of a wonderfully quirky kid, Lewis Barnavelt (Owen Vaccaro), a 10-year-old orphan who goes to live with his Uncle Johnathan (Black) in an old creepy house in the fictional town of New Zebedee, Michigan in 1955.

    During his first few nights in the dark maze of a house, Lewis meets Florence Zimmerman (Blanchett), Jonathan’s purple-clad and fabulously dressed neighbor, and encounters some oddities while exploring—a stain glass window that changes, suit of armor that moves, a living chair that acts like a dog. However, the oddest thing about the house is that within the walls comes the foreboding ticking of a clock left by the previous tenant and Jonathan’s friend Isaac Izard (Kyle McLaughlin) and his wife Selena (Renee Elise Goldsberry). The purpose of the clock is a mystery until the true nature is uncovered and terrifying events unfold within the house. 

    Blanchett, Black, and Vaccaro make an interesting trio to follow and root for. The actors do most of the heavy lifting where the movie falters, especially as it becomes more repetitive with whimsical magic as Lewis studies magic under his uncle and nightmarish imagery—at least for the young audience. The conception and design of the world are great. Particularly the costuming and production design. Though it’d be great to venture further than the house and Lewis’ school. Kids seeing the movie are sure to be entranced—and scared—by the imagery. However, there is less for the adults to latch on to.

    The pacing becomes an issue during the middle portion, which feels like it drags. There is some reprieve, though, when the movie focuses more on the trio’s relationship as a family unit of “black swans” as Jonathan puts it at one point. Blanchett does a lot to elevate her character’s storyline with much-needed subtlety. However, those moments are fleeting and instead, we get progressively weirder and creepier scenes as the mysterious clock in the walls winds down. And when Roth lets loose and makes a dark fantasy rather than a kids movie, it works well. In one scene, Blanchett head-butts a demonic jack o’lantern that spews adhesive pumpkin guts. Yes, it’s as trippy as it sounds. 

    It’s that pure unadulterated weirdness that makes The House with a Clock in Its Walls interesting to watch. Tonally, that’s what the movie needed to commit to. At one point, Florence even says about Lewis, “wow, he is weird.” And yes, Lewis is a properly weird goggles-wearing protagonist. That should have leaked more into the rest of the movie. And more demonic jack o’lanterns too.

    The House with a Clock in its Walls is available to rent or buy on Amazon!

    Karl’s rating: