Tar

 

    

      Written and directed by Todd Field, this new drama tracks the trajectory of a brilliant musical composer and conductor played by the brilliant Cate Blanchett. Ms. Blanchett is a marvel in one of the best roles of her career.

  

       As the film opens Lydia Tar is at the top of her profession. She is the first female conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic and preparing to record a live concert of Mahler's 5^th Symphony. We see her go about her days in a series of edited scenes, almost like individual vignettes, working with students, visiting her family, preparing for the concert, and taking a new cellist under her wing (with possible ulterior motives).  

       On the surface, Tar, while incredibly driven, seems a likeable character but we quickly discover her true self. She is arrogant, manipulative, and condescending to those around her, especially her often put-upon assistant, Francesca, played by Noemie Merlant. She thrives on transactional relationships, even with her wife and daughter.

      The film co-stars Nina Hoss as Sharon, Tar's wife, Julian Glover as Andris Davis, Mark Strong as Eliot Kaplan and Sophie Kauer as Olga Metkina, the gifted young cellist. How power corrupts is a central theme to this intense character study of a brilliant yet flawed individual and Ms. Blanchett is note perfect in an extraordinary performance.