Why I thought this movie was pretentious (And why I was wrong)

This is my analysis video on Tar, a 2022 oscar nominated film directed by Todd Field and starring Cate Blanchett. I also do a bit of a movie review for it. When I first saw this film I thought it was overly pretentious and had to stop watching, but later on grew to love the film and wanted to share my story with it

[@birchwwolf]

There's a whole conservation that can be had about the fact that if the film were about a male conductor, people wouldn't care, as that's "normal" behaviour for "genius" men. Why did it take a woman doing the exact same thing to get people talking about these behaviours?

[@benjaminmeusburger4254]

essentially it is about a narcicist asshole if this movie was the exact same with a man, then nobody would have watched it

[@MarcusHCrawford]

It blows my mind how someone as amazingly talented as Cate Blanchett could do this and then Borderlands…not just in the same century…but in the same universe…what even is that, Cate? You played Bob Dylan and Galadriel and Katherine Hepburn! What the hell happened?

[@craigledger4645]

Interestingly, she filmed “Borderlands” first then “TÁR”, and the worthy film came out first. Then again, Cate Blanchett is one of the most versatile actors out there regardless of the quality of the films. Plus, she’s sublime in “DISCLAIMER*”.

[@somecallmecrispy]

I was so frustrated with people writing it off as pretentious when I wanted to talk about it and how people just started chatting away about their weekends when I saw it in the theatre - I loved it and thought it was very witty. Even as someone who doesn't know much about the music lore, I could understand the overall themes and messages just by paying attention... but it was exciting because it made you work and think a lot! And Cate was ofc mesmerising to watch. thank you for this video! :) *edit: typo ("aboutt" into "about") changed "calling it" into "writing it off as"

[@JebloFilm]

Thanks for the comment! I think this movie does a great job of presenting a nuanced and balanced take on some pretty complex topics like separating the art from the artist and challenges the viewer come to their own conclusions and I think its unfortunate that some people saw the first 30 minutes and then dismissed the rest of the movie (I guess me included at first :0)

[@somecallmecrispy]

@@JebloFilm couldn‘t agree more with you! Glad you gave it another go :) but I suppose sometimes we are just not in the right mood for certain movies I think, giving them another go in a different setting can do wonders :)

[@ADavid42]

i was amazed by the sheer _competence_ of Blanchet delivering this movie. And of the writers, set design, music, cinematography... every aspect was masterful. For all that the subject can be hurtful, it was a masterpiece.

[@gustavogirotto]

Very interesting take on this movie. Lydia is a fascinating character that dominates most os the narrative, until she doesn't. The ending is perfectly ironic, indeed.

[@JebloFilm]

I agree, in the beginning when we see the posters for Tar Mahler V, Lydia's face takes up half the entire poster and its very much about her, and by the end, her conducting is very much in service of others and she takes a much smaller role

[@kokomolove1434]

Brother you deserve to have wayyyyyy more subs than you do at this moment!!! What a great analysis of the movie! I hope your channel becomes very big and i hope you keep doing more film breakdowns! This one was great

[@dyingforeddiemunson]

i definitely do agree with your take, especially that lydia is pretentious and insecure and tries to overcompensate by affecting this facade of ig her idea of a wealthy, aloof, intellectual musical genius. she doesn't even seem to enjoy the process of composing for all her talk, and i think it's the power of being in a position like that which is more alluring to her. that said, i also don't think the movie really deconstructs the ideas it presents enough? it seems very ambiguous with what it wants to say about lydia's pretension, and doesn't really grapple with the class politics within the music industry that produces and motivates people like lydia, and the nature of those politics itself. i think it definitely tries to, through the character of lydia, but doesn't quite hit the mark. it has been a while since i've watched it and i remember it leaving me so frustrated and with such a bitter taste in my mouth for some reason, but maybe those opinions would change upon a rewatch.

[@BloodRider1914]

Fellow man watching Tár on the plane

[@peteradaniel]

That ending was the one thing that pissed me off about the film. That would never happen to a conductor. She would just be ushered off to another orchestra. Cancel culture doesn’t really exist in classical music and that would make a much more interesting and complicated ending.

[@bacarandii]

Pretentious? "That's you, Lydia Tar!" Precisely. Anyone who even uses the word "pretentious" in the 21st Century is likely overcompensating for their own insecurities by defensively exercising pretentiousness and condescension themselves. What they're saying is that something is bothering them, or they feel like somebody's trying to go over their heads, so they lash out to defend themselves. Just like Tar does. They're blaming their discomfort on someone else. But what do they think this movie is showing them? And how does its reach exceed its grasp? Sometimes viewers attribute a character's self-seriousness and self-importance to the movie or the filmmakers rather than the character. (The same clueless "pretentious" charges have been aimed at "Saltburn" for some of the same reasons: they assume the film is "about" something other than what's on the screen.) In this case, do disapproving viewers think "maestro Tar" is supposed to be the heroine, a sophisticated role model of some kind? She's an accomplished, intelligent, expressive interpretive artist -- and an empty shell of a human being, a total failure in her personal life. I know some musicians who thought Tar's over-the-top conducting style (a grotesque, amateurish exaggeration of Bernstein's) was pretentious and laughable... and it is. Look at those megalomaniacal low-angle shots of her at the podium. She's a narcissistic drama queen, a musical Trump -- but she has actual accomplishments that attest to her artistic talents. That's what the opening establishes as the premise of the movie, though you only see it in retrospect (complete with the end credits sequence -- the stuff most people never watch -- transposed to the front of the film and imposed on the audience as a form of punitive discipline -- like her conduct of her Juilliard class). Then what happens?

[@MsTriangle]

Saltburn had a poor script development but was not pretentious. Tar on the other hand...

[@JebloFilm]

@bacarandii I think that point you made makes a lot of sense, theres a difference between a specific character acting pretentious vs a movie itself being pretentious. The idea of insecurity also makes sense, throughout the film we see lydia have multiple nervous tics, and we also see her steal and abuse her wifes Metoprolol, which is used for high blood pressure (what sharon uses it for) but is also prescribed for anxiety so I think it does paint a picture of someone who deals with a lot of insecurity behind her pretentious/self important facade

[@Shut.Eye.Cinema]

IMHO The director made this as a closure to his own role as a pianist in "Eyes Wide Shut".

[@soundsofpeace1783]

TÁR is the best film of the 2020s so far

[@LJScott1974]

Thanks for the great video. I think TAR is easily one of the top 5 or so films of the century so far. Incredible film.

[@percyweasley9301]

Very interesting review. Watching from Northeast India..

[@TheEliera]

somehow his movie is really satisfying to watch I have no clue why

[@marichristian]

Sorry! There aren't enough first rate female orchestral conductors alive, to justify presenting a nasty caricature of the rise and fall of Tar.

[@pheebsbee1280]

Haven’t watched it. Will wait till it streams.

[@Verdpast]

You thought that because it had a woman protagonist? Shame on you !!!😢