I believe that people in positions of authority should be held accountable for their actions. I believe that terrible people can make miraculous art. I believe that people studying an art form have an obligation to understand and engage with the full history of that art form, even when it's made by people who identify very differently from them. I believe that 99% of people accused of misdeeds are guilty to some extent of those misdeeds. I believe that there are many people who seek to avoid engaging with complex ideas and perspectives that challenge them and make them uncomfortable. I believe that everyone is guilty at times of making sweeping generalizations about others. I believe that there are positive things we can learn from people who might be terrible in other ways. I believe that both people participating voluntarily in a transactional relationship bear responsibility for the outcomes of that relationship. I believe that people are incredibly complex and can be many things at once. I believe we live in a social media world that more and more doesn't want to acknowledge that and wants to be able to smack an easy meme and label on everything.
What does "Tar" -- the movie, not the character -- believe? Maybe all of the above. Maybe none of the above. The beauty of "Tar" is that it raises a host of complex questions but doesn't force any answers on the viewer. This is a movie made for adults that lets us think for ourselves. A lot of people are interpreting it as an examination of cancel culture. I can see why, though that isn't how I primarily interpreted it. I don't think it's as much about the rights and wrongs of cancel culture as much as it's about our complicated relationships with artists and the art they create. The movie isn't exclusively about Americans, but the writer and director Todd Field is, so I think it's also about how the only thing Americans enjoy more than turning someone into an unrealistic hero is to rip them apart when they fail to live up to our expectations.
This is a movie I cannot stop thinking about. I didn't love it, though I liked it a lot. There's something slightly cold about it, so while I enjoyed the intellectual rigors of it, I didn't feel very emotionally involved. I started to feel its length as it moved into its final scenes. But I can't think of a movie I've seen recently that makes me want to talk to someone about it as much as this one, and that's got to be worth something.
Nothing needs to be said about Cate Blanchett other than that she is magnificent.
Grade: A.
What does "Tar" -- the movie, not the character -- believe? Maybe all of the above. Maybe none of the above. The beauty of "Tar" is that it raises a host of complex questions but doesn't force any answers on the viewer. This is a movie made for adults that lets us think for ourselves. A lot of people are interpreting it as an examination of cancel culture. I can see why, though that isn't how I primarily interpreted it. I don't think it's as much about the rights and wrongs of cancel culture as much as it's about our complicated relationships with artists and the art they create. The movie isn't exclusively about Americans, but the writer and director Todd Field is, so I think it's also about how the only thing Americans enjoy more than turning someone into an unrealistic hero is to rip them apart when they fail to live up to our expectations.
This is a movie I cannot stop thinking about. I didn't love it, though I liked it a lot. There's something slightly cold about it, so while I enjoyed the intellectual rigors of it, I didn't feel very emotionally involved. I started to feel its length as it moved into its final scenes. But I can't think of a movie I've seen recently that makes me want to talk to someone about it as much as this one, and that's got to be worth something.
Nothing needs to be said about Cate Blanchett other than that she is magnificent.
Grade: A.