I have been digesting Tár which we went to last night. Of course, it has great virtues: a picture of an obsessive conductor; it’s beautifully filmed; Cate Blanchett is incredibly impressive in the role; there is much which is intellectually and psychologically convincing, including the change in culture from her being idolized as a maestro to being cancelled for her predatory sexuality.
And yet, I’m afraid that at the same time I found it too self consciously ‘important’, too obviously aimed at the Oscars, and actually more than a bit pretentious. And isn’t there something a bit uncomfortable about its depiction of Tár ?
| Charles | Saumarez | Smith | 
All sorts of ambiguities and loose ends: never clear to me to what extent she had been culpably ‘predatory’ in respect of the suicide; what happened to her when she entered that grotty basement; or what the significance of the next-door neighbour was. But yes, a superb performance by CB, & the picture of the classical music world only v slightly exaggerated