Tàr- is it good?

[PermanentTemporary]

Contemplating going but I don't want to be really emotionally wrung out...

From brum! Thought it was a thread about saying thankyou :)

No, Lydia only knows about the Youtube video of the auditioning cellist as a young girl playing Elgar after she's been auditioned and offered the place (subject to a vote from the audience after a trial period) -- she watches the video after they've had lunch together, and that's what prompts her to suggest the Elgar cello concerto as a companion piece to the Mahler, and to ask the current cellists to audition for the plum solo against the new one (Olga?)

All she knows about the new cellist at the audition is that she saw her in the loo beforehand, clearly fancied her, deliberately looked under the cubicle door to note her distinctive shoes, and kept an eye out for them again under the screen at the blind audition -- after which she changes the marks on her audition sheet, presumably to bump them up.

I did think the film pulled its punches there a bit, by making the auditioning cellist Lydia favours demonstrably much stronger than the other auditionee, so there's no question of Lydia forcing through a poor candidate over a stronger one.

And arguably, it pulls its punches again by making Olga palpably so uninterested in Lydia's favours and attention. She's interested in eating as much as possible at lunch, not impressing a powerful conductor, and she blows her off with an excuse about being tired in NY, when she's in fact going out on the town with someone else. It would feel quite different if we saw her falling under Lydia's spell, as Krista possibly did.

I also think it's interesting that we are actually shown the fuller version of the Juillard masterclass, so we know that the edited video that went viral doesn't represent a fair or full version of the dynamic between Lydia and the student.

Todd Field, for whatever reason, does hold back from showing us Lydia as an active, straightforward predator. It's strongly implied re Krista and her assistant (Francesca?), and obviously we see her favour the young cellist -- but the cellist is shown as impervious, not in any way vulnerable. (Though one wonders whether, had Lydia not been fired, she would have manipulated the orchestra into voting not to retain her after the NY trip when she clearly doesn't obtain any sexual favours from her...)

Sorry, not vote from audience, vote from ORCHESTRA.

And sorry, that was an essay!

Saw it yesterday at the cinema.
Loved it.
Yes it's long but worth it.

I think that the young cellist is very deliberately manipulating Tar, who ends up being hoisted by her own petard, but still is (semi-victorious). That's what I thought, anyway.

I think it’s strongly inferred she is a predator. Only, the last girl, the cellist, is immune. People were captivated by her power and persona. That mattered not one bit to the new girl so none of it worked. She was obviously into trading secrets.

Favours.she trader favours with these women. I
p pole do it and have been doing it forever. It’s how power works.

i thought it was a real mess of a film and wouldn’t recommend (though loved the last minute!). Agree with the view of @Sausagenbacon - I was beginning to think I’d seen a different film given some of the comments!

Fabulous, if you like smart, artistic people who talk a lot.

@ConnieSaks I agree! I didn't think the pacing or structure worked at all and I struggled to feel engaged until the second half. It's worth seeing for Cate Blanchett though.

I watched this yesterday. I’d read a review which described her as “monstrous” and I didn’t think she was at all. I wasn’t even sure she was a predator - Krista was clearly stalking her (we saw her at various events and outside her hotel) and sending her gifts which clearly upset her.

am I a monster?

As I think I said up the thread, I think the film makes a deliberate decision not to show us Lydia actually 'successfully' preying on a younger woman -- we may assume she's the one who wrecked Krista's MH and drove her to stalking and ultimately to suicide, and we do see her refusing to take her calls, and getting her assistant to delete the smear campaign Lydia mounted against her as regards employment in orchestras, but the only time we see her 'in action' when she attempts to seduce the new young cellist whom she got into the orchestra because she fancied her, she's unsuccessful, but is punished anyway by the total loss of her career, wife and child.

I think we know she's a monster, but the film chooses not to show us exactly what she did to Krista, or to show her seducing and discarding the young cellist. I can't quite decide if that's an interesting decision, or a writer/director pulling his punches.