Tar

* * * * - Rating M - 2022 - Drama/Musical - 2h 38m

A brilliant conductor composer former protegee of Leonard Bernstein and now household name Lydia Tar - as portrayed by Cate Blanchett in an extraordinary performance - is so intimidatingly alpha you are almost scared into thinking she's real. Certainly when a student's accusation of bullying snowballs into a torrent of horror stories about Maestra Tar we feel ourselves to be embroiled in a real-world conundrum where the truth is always fudged or out of reach. Writer-director Todd Field keeps Lydia's past blurry and the film's attitude to cancel culture ambiguous; Tar is the stuff of a million cinema-foyer arguments. Opens January 26.

Cast: Cate Blanchett Noémie Merlant Nina Hoss

Release date: 26 January 2023

Official Trailer

Review

7.8/10 IMDB
90% TOMATOMETER
72% AUDIENCE SCORE

It wants to splash around in the #MeToo conversation without committing to getting wet... Field views identity politics as a zero-sum game that seeks to destroy true art.

Even by her usual high standards Blanchett's acting here is mesmerising bringing to life a character who is not only charismatic highly intelligent and passionate about music but also bafflingly devious and egoistic to the nth degree

I have to chime in with others I have read who indicate Blanchett is now the favorite to win the Best Actress Oscar next year. This is a brilliantly written directed and acted film that is more believable than some recent films that are based on fact.