TAR is worth watching – and hating

TAR opened in Singapore cinemas on Jan 26. And, in just one week, it’s become the movie everyone who considers themselves something of a serious movie buff is talking about. They’re talking about its six Oscar nominations and Cate Blanchett’s fine performance as an orchestra conductor. They’re talking about the directorial return of Todd Field (In The Bedroom, Little Children) after a 16-year-hiatus. They’re talking about its 2 hour and 38 minute runtime, which does not feel lengthy at all. They’re talking about the sublime, subliminal score by Hildur Guonadottir (The Joker, Chernobyl).

(Spoiler alert!) But they’re also talking about TAR’s ending which has been offending many a viewer in this part of the world. Some are calling it “regressive” and “racist towards Asians”. Others are upset, but can’t quite decide where to stand on the matter. The American film critic Amy Taubin (who is white, not Asian) called the ending “one of the most racist s**t I’ve ever seen in a serious movie”. Taubin is 84 and has been reviewing films for decades.

The story centres on Lydia Tar (Blanchett), a celebrated orchestra conductor sitting on top of the world. She is preparing to record a live performance of Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No 5 with a Berlin-based orchestra. She has a side gig lecturing at Juilliard in New York. She constantly appears in magazine features, which she duly cuts out and keeps. As an openly gay woman married to another woman, with whom she is raising an adopted Syrian girl, Tar is living proof to the world that Western civilisation has progressed significantly to recognise the accomplishments of an individual regardless of her gender and sexuality.