Tár

(Spoilers ahead)

I had already seen Tár twice before getting to watch it at a movie theater and I only got to watch it because serendipitously, I got to be in Mexico City at the same time of its release. Even though I really barely had time to watch it as soon as I found out it had been released I made a point to make time to see it and somehow convince someone to go with me and this is where it started to get interesting for me.

I asked a family member and my mom if they wanted to come with me, my mom didn’t even ask what the movie was about before saying yes but my aunt did. When I pitched it to her I said “it's about a famous composer who gets in big trouble” I held back on explaining themes because to me Tár is a discovery I wouldn’t dare take away from anyone and I also expressed that my description in spite of my love for the film, still didn’t do it justice at all. When we got to the movie theater the commercials before the film started and I was surprised because the announcers pitched it as “a famous composer who seeks comfort and solace from the love of her adopted daughter” which somehow is not wrong but it also really is? I pointed this out to my aunt; how different both descriptions are from one another, so much so, anyone would probably think they’re two different films. 

The constant questioning and trying to define it became so annoying at some point I just stopped trying because I simply couldn’t... That was until I got to watch it at the movie theater. The film then revealed itself to me in a way I had no idea it could, given the number of times I had already seen it. I came to the realization that Tár is a question and somehow a living organism. 

It’s a question because first of all, you really have no idea what is true and what’s not and this film has a knack for making arguments and somehow showing you both sides of a very complex situtation and then throwing a question at you through its main character and its constant contradictions and unreliable psyche as well as taking you through Lydia’s life and explaining her identity and the fakeness of it though different metaphors. The brilliantly constructed Tár at some point begins transforming into a bizarre but thrilling drama that is somehow funny and horrifying.

The most alive part of Tár to me lies in several things, first of all, the storytelling and how the film every single time you watch it you notice it's having an argument with itself while throwing questions at you, a different one each time you watch it knowing you still will not for the life of you, be able to find an answer and whatever interpretation you get from it might diverge a lot form mine for example, but it will probably still be true because that’s when you realize that this is a film of many truths that is somehow so revealing yet it manages to remain hidden. But the absolute most revealing and alive aspect of the film is the use of sound, the way sound gets woven into different metaphors in the film is utterly masterful it coexists and compliments the rhythmic part of the film in an incredibly perfect way. It moves the story forward, it is used as a way to show who Lydia really is and how she’s being haunted.

Now after having read the script and analyzing it, I came to this interpretation: 

At some point at the beginning of the film, Lydia says that Malher’s 5th is a mystery because he barely left anything that could remotely explain what the song was about or what the background of it is, and to me, Tár is it. Tár is Todd Field’s interpretation and exploration of the meaning and intent or “kavanah” behind Mahler’s 5th. 

I won’t even go into the performances because, after all this, I really don’t think I have to. This movie lifted off the page as soon as it started and it shall remain a steady presence in everyone this movie has managed to touch. 

All this, to me, is Tár.