Tár (Todd Field, 2022)

[soundchaser]

This doesn’t discount what you’re saying, but I read the VHS scene as more of a part with the reveals in that section of her origins and how she constructed her maestro persona. The close-up makes us think about her as a kid watching the VHS tape on repeat and giving away that

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she greatly exaggerated, if not invented, her relationship to Bernstein in the opening interview. IIRC, she says something to the effect that he was her mentor, but on top of the fact that we see her blatantly copying him (as she does everyone else in the movie, as I mentioned upthread, calling into question the image of her as a great artist), we realize that he was her mentor, not as an instructor at some conservatory or as a close personal acquaintance, but foremost as a personality on TV, the kind that lonely kids imagine to be their friends. Which is (I assume, I’m no classical music aficionado) a very mainstream, middlebrow entry point to the field, totally normal for what we see of her background, but perhaps a bit shameful to admit once you’ve made it and are among more extravagantly educated peers.

The script is full of great details like this.

I don't dislike that interpretation, but I will counter part of it by saying that I've talked to a handful of other musicians (or people who have conducted ensembles before), and every one agreed that Blanchett was a force of nature in the brief glimpses we actually get of her conducting. So if questioning her proficiency was Field/Blanchett's intent, they didn't entirely succeed!

[therewillbeblus]

I really enjoyed reading that, Red Screamer, and agree that this was the intention of the scene. I think this whole artistic choice -in addition to demonstrating the problems you're talking about- inherently humanizes her in order to even arrive at the problematic nature of her behavior, if there was some in this 'copying' respect. Field recognizes that she is a sad figure, and whether there's more empathy or pity or urgent inspection with urge to change.. that's the nice ambiguities felt throughout

[Red Screamer]

I don't dislike that interpretation, but I will counter part of it by saying that I've talked to a handful of other musicians (or people who have conducted ensembles before), and every one agreed that Blanchett was a force of nature in the brief glimpses we actually get of her conducting. So if questioning her proficiency was Field/Blanchett's intent, they didn't entirely succeed!

That’s interesting, good to know! The film definitely presents her as an exceptional conductor. But with her debilitating struggle to compose and her copycatting, I think it also shows that she’s not someone particularly creative or independently minded. Not that she needs to be to make worthwhile art, but her artistry has limits that frustrate and embarrass her.

[soundchaser]

Late to the response, but this evening I was watching a YouTube video by two musicians considering specifically Blanchett's conducting in the film. There's a move they criticize at approx. 1:10 that I immediately recognized from Bernstein. It's at :39 in to this performance of Overture to Candide. I'd say it's a fairly unusual move -- it stuck out to me, at least. Whether that makes Lydia a better conductor or a copycat, I'll let you decide!

[Maladroit Aggregator]

Pretty funny You Tube comment:

I wonder if Todd Field saw

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a video of an orchestra doing video game music and worked backward to see how a conductor got that job