Deepfocuslens
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Rethinking Tar
🕑 Added 2023-05-25 01:58:40 +0000 UTCSo I've seen the film now four times. Its tone is such that I couldnt put my finger on it for a bit there. But the direction in terms of exploring the abstract, the dreamy, the breaks in logic, etc. etc., is some of the most detailed and subtle I've ever seen. It wasn't until the third viewing that I even noticed the ghost haunting her in the background. To me this is one of the great subtle experiences of what it means for reality to bend and distort all around you, but in a way that feels still like we are in control, which feels true to life. We all go a little mad sometimes but...most of the time I feel films take too many creative liberties so far as expressing what losing control of your mind is like. Often feels rather cartoonish. But this is the kind of slowly building cray-cray that I think people could relate to if they really look at it. This film is both off the rails, and very controlled. So to watch this film literally, I do believe is a mistake. I notice so many of the interpretations for scenes online, I don't quite agree with because of that.
But...one thing you have to do, if this kind of thing interests you...is go back and watch this original teaser trailer. Hoooly shit I had forgotten all about it. Freeze every shot and think about its context in the film. You'll notice that it's giving you a lot of the answers through surrealistic imagery, that it seems to have left out of the final cut.
Of all the trailers I have seen, I don't think I've ever seen one, where so much unused footage didn't make it into the final cut. The majority of what you see here, is nowhere to be seen in the film we all saw. Makes one wonder what was going on there. If the intent initially was to go more blatant psych horror a la Black Swan. I'm really glad it didn't, because this particular interpretation I find to be far more unique and interesting overall.
But here what do we see? Some Eyes Wide Shut type sequence, perhaps a Holocaust memorial sequence too with Lydia walking through, more dream sequences...even a shot of Andris Davis in one of Tar's dreams, with red lipstick and perched lips (interesting considering the character context). Of course the psychedelic imagery is leaking its way into the film, but here in the teaser it's right on the surface. Lydia clearly took a lot of ayahuasca during her time with the shipibo people, yet the ego death failed to stick. So here...those psychedelic images, are flooding her subconscious, as she prepares for her true rebirth.
Normally, I would be very annoyed by a trailer like this. Because it sets us up for something we dont get. For sure that's how I felt initially. But now looking back on it...this feels like some really interesting artistic short piece that somehow captures the more intimate nature of what is bubbling under the surface of the final cut. It's not a necessary thing to view, but a pleasant surprise to view again, once the film begins to grow more clear to me. The final cut...doesnt give you a lot. It purposely keeps you quite distant, in a way that's very Kubrickian. But also very much unique to Todd Field.
My goodness though...I want to see a directors cut. Like...real bad. T_T
Comments
Deepfocuslens
yeah I agree. XD...I was thinking that several times.
Emerson B
I still don't understand why there needed to be opening and closing credits. I liked how the opening credits commentate on the fact of a sea other creatives and collaborators support the artists we revere. Without them, the prodigal artists would be dispensable. But then why have closing credits too? Although I appreciated the trap music playing over the closing credits haha
Deepfocuslens
Awesome. thank you for suggesting
Stephen
Never heard of it but looks good. It’s also available on Amazon.
Bennett Oliver
If you’d like to see another film that subtly plugs you into the disturbed psychological state of its female protagonist, check out Lucrecia Martel’s The Headless Woman. It’s a 2008 Argentine film about a middle class woman who, while distracted, hits something with her car. Convinced that it was a boy, she descends into a kind of fugue state as her guilt over the accident increases. Martel doesn’t utilize any flamboyant devices to depict her state of mind; she instead relies on subtle techniques like focus and camera placement to show how dissociated she is. It’s not as rich and complex a film as Tàr is, but it’s worth checking out. I think it might still be on MUBI, but not for long.
Jim Barnes
A lot seems to turn on the young Russian cellist. The scene when Tar follows her into her apartment building and hits her head feels like a key scene, when it feels like the movie is becoming unmoored from reality. She represents so much to Tar — an object of desire, but also a reminder of past questionable relationships, and also the fear Tar might have of being dismissed by the younger generation. Olga doesn’t know or care who the conductor was in the piece she talks about with Tar, she doesn’t give much deference to Tar, and she shuns Tar and seems to mock her in New York. That initial social media post we see near the start of the movie — isn’t that Olga mocking Tar? Or is that Tar’s previous assistant? Anyway, don’t want to go on too long. I know the idea of “what’s real and what’s in Tar’s head” doesn’t hold all the answers to the movie, but I do think we’re supposed to feel Tar’s obsession with Olga on multiple fronts.
Deepfocuslens
Totally agree. The cancel culture thing barely scratches the surface of all that's going on. I'd love to discuss certain scenes and characters, what they could mean to each person. I'm not sure sometimes if my interpretations mirror other peoples
Jim Barnes
I somehow missed this trailer in the lead-up and only saw the traditional one. A lot going on here. I loved the movie so much, even though I might be hard-pressed at times to tell you exactly what happened or what it meant — of course different scenes can mean vastly different things to different people. I think this is the most I’ve been engaged by a movie in recent years, where you know the filmmaker and the actors are working at a high level and they have something to say, even if it’s not always completely clear. I’m sure I will return to it several more times in my life. All the people who wanted to dismiss it or engage with it only as a “cancel culture” movie should have their phones taken away.
Wolfman Brandon
The first time I saw it, it was so strange but intriguing that I knew I had to see it again. A couple months back, I watched it again and loved it way more this time. I'm all for psychological character studies and this is one of the better ones I've seen in recent years. The tone also threw me off when I first saw it that I missed the very understated bits that keyed us in on her deteriorating mental health. Seeing it again, those nightmares really got to her. I know what it's like to be having sleep deprivation from waking up constantly in the middle of the night. Although, in my case it was because I slept on a futon back during my college years but still bad sleeping nights like that will screw you up in the head and that was probably the key to her decline. Again, very understated but very effective which sums up the film as a whole.
Jared Angcanan
Saw it and loved it, but had no idea about the ghost - definitely gonna grab a blu ray tho sheesh
Bennett Oliver
Yeah, it’s not even necessarily effective either, because once things go over-the-top in those films, such as walls start collapsing or a refrigerator tries to eat things, the audience knows that the character is going crazy and are now standing outside their mindset. They may be scared as well, but they’re not sharing in the madness. That was the cool thing about Altman’s Images: you didn’t know what was real and what wasn’t, much like Susannah York.
Deepfocuslens
A lot about this film doesnt add up, and a lot of weird moments in it keep it just slightly out of reality enough for everything to be questioned. But I like that it never gives you a clear indication of what is in her mind, and what is actually happening. Because I tend to tire of the whole "it was all in her mind" type stuff.
Deepfocuslens
I agree with your initial experience as well. But yes, it's more rewarding as you chip away at it as a viewer I think. For my third viewing, I watched it while reading the script at the same time. That helps a lot as well. The screen direction is quite well written in its own right. But yes...there is a literal ghost haunting Lydia lol. You can google it on images but, yeah it's super super subtle.
Bennett Oliver
I haven’t seen it since it first came out in theaters, and I’ve been meaning to do so. My initial impression was that I found it fascinating and needed at least a second viewing to unpack everything about it, but I also understood why it didn’t do so well with regular audiences. It is so determinedly allusive to what’s going on in both present action and backstory as well as so neutral about depicting it that the audience is effectively frozen out of the story. I think that’s a big reason why the film didn’t do so well in terms of box office or awards (and let’s face it, Blanchett, with her monumental performance, deserved to win). But I know that this is certainly not a film that is designed to tell you what to think or feel about the unfolding events or the main character herself. So I need to see it again to catch all the things I missed. But is there a literal ghost in the movie? I know there were some strange events in the film that took place in the middle of the night where things started moving on their own. Is she being haunted by her dead lover? I know that Blanchett and Todd Field always described Lydia as being “haunted” but I thought they were being figurative. At any rate, it is a fascinating movie, and the more I thought about the ending the more I liked it, how Lydia is at once born-again and rendered a punchline. She’ll never get back to where she was in terms of status, but, as the previous scene in the massage parlor suggests, she just might find herself again as an artist and a person, unburdened by ego and entitlement. But yeah, I’m also glad that Todd Field dispensed with all the surreal, psychological imagery. That would’ve made it a lot like other art films that tried to go into the troubled psyche of its protagonist. He went after something more subtle and interesting. I wonder if that’s how things evolved for him in post-production. We need a detailed making-of featurette or an in-depth discussion on his process in making the movie from him (one interesting thing I do know: it took him only 12 weeks to write the script. That would take years to do from other writers).
Stephen
Okay now I need to finally rewatch it this weekend. Been meaning to since I liked it but didn’t love it like so many. Definitely will keep in mind what you say here.
Deepfocuslens
I think it's more that I've never seen anyone make a movie like this, which intrigues me.
Tyler Shobe
I feel like you especially would find it comforting cause sort of like a "Whew, they do still make interesting movies today" moment.
Deepfocuslens
Yes I highly encourage you to watch. And for sure, look at some of these shots in this teaser. And see how they echo in subtle ways through the film. Also...I agree. It's a good film to see alone. Weirdly I find this film comforting.
Tyler Shobe
I almost got my fiance who definitely wouldn't have been into what Tar is to see it off that teaser cause she loves Black Swan and I told her the movie looked like a conductor version of it and shes a violinist. Timing didn't work out and I went alone which ended up being for the best cause, as you said, the movie is very subtle and I don't think it would have captured her attention. It ended up being the perfect sort of going to the theater alone sort of movie. The more surreal stuff you're mentioning didn't stick out to me but that's probably cause I've only seen it twice. Sounds like third times the charm. Looking forward to that next experience for sure.
