Tár is (Mostly) Innocent

Note: this article contains major spoilers for the film Tár

Those who watched Tár and found Lydia Tár guilty fell into the trap carefully laid by the film.

The film would like the viewer to be against Tár. It attempts to achieve this by crafting a mob against her. We ask two things. First, is this justified? Second, is the film successful in this endeavour?

Ultimately, Tár is the story of cancel culture. We do not know what happened between Tár and Krista. Not really. We are given no flashbacks, no concrete information. We have only hearsay from unreliable sources with agendas. If you think "but of course we know she is guilty!" then perhaps the film infected you with its mind-virus.

Krista commits suicide. We don't know why, precisely. The fact that she could not land a role as a conductor in an orchestra is, undeniably, a contributing factor. Tár warned orchestras that Krista was "not suitable" due to her "unusual behaviour". Is this Tár ruining Krista's career out of revenge? Certainly this is one interpretation the film presents us. But, this is not necessarily the correct interpretation. Just because Krista committed suicide, making her the more sympathetic character, does not mean that Tár is the villain. Krista does send Francesca numerous desperate emails. She sends Tár unusual gifts. She etches strange geometric figures into anything she can get her hands on. We could equally present another interpretation that Krista was a deeply disturbed girl who wasn't suitable to be a conductor.

Sebastian accuses Tár of favouritism with Francesca, in exchange for sexual favours. The viewer might be tempted to agree with Sebastian. After all, that fits the narrative the film is attempting to craft about Tár. But, isn't there another interpretation? Could we not also say that Tár and Sebastian have creative differences, and he is lashing out at the idea of being "rotated"? We aren't actually given any indication in the film of a sexual relationship between Tár and Francesca. Again, all we have to go on here is Sebastian's accusation – and faced with the prospect of losing his job he is not a reliable source.

Tár shows tenderness for only two people: Petra and Olga. She is obviously attracted to Olga, but literally nothing comes of it. They spend a lot of time alone together and do nothing but play music. At most Tár asks Olga to dinner. While they are in a hotel. On a business trip. The film relies on this connection between Tár and Olga as one way in which it manipulates the viewer into believing Tár is guilty for Krista's suicide. It forms a pivotal piece of evidence in the view's mind. The scenes where they interact are delicate and beautiful, supported by a pair of perfect performances. But, if we slow ourselves down, this is no evidence to condemn Tár by.

I watched Tár on Easter Monday. It reminds me in some loose ways of the Easter Story. The mob goes after Tár, just as the mob goes after Christ. How many of the protestors know the full story of Krista? How many of those shouting "crucify him" knew the full story of Jesus?

Tár isn't perfect like Christ. She has her flaws. She doesn't seem to love Sophia, or even be attracted to her. Her largest failing is towards Sophia. "It's got nothing to do with what they're accusing you of" says Sophia "it's a simple matter of not warning me our family is in danger". Sophia says she "deserved" to know this. She did. Tár should have warned her. But, this fatal oversight is not why Tár is being cancelled, so let's not lose our focus.

Tár assaults her replacement, Eliot on the night of the performance. From the podium she screams "this is my score". She is right. It is her score. Nobody will be able to conduct that piece like Tár. Just as Christ was born to hang on the cross; she was born to conduct those Mahler symphonies. The 5th would be her crowning moment. The crucifixion is Christ's crowning moment (literally).Tár is the story of the best possible conductor. The Gospel is the story of the best possible person. Forgive the heavy comparisons to Christ, but they are there. A small detail but Knut literally draws a cross on the score at the moment the 5th is interrupted by Tár.

The human race has deprived itself of the perfect performance; just as Max deprived himself of Bach. The film places the central message right at the start. Don't be like Max – casting off composers by prejudgement. Tár exposes Max to his own ideas. He isn't able to handle being judged as he judges. She shows that Max is a "robot", with all his opinions programmed into him by social media. Where did the protestors get their thoughts on Tár? The same place? When we reject something so frivolously, we also lose something profound. Each composer we cast off is a beautiful piece lost. A thought that is buried just below the surface is: how much are we willing to tolerate before we cancel someone? If you wish to be puritan and answer "we should tolerate nothing!", then you would have to abandon all art, music, film, literature. Every creator has done something in their life. You should probably stop reading this article, too. I'm sure the mob could cancel me if the gaze of Sauron casts a glance in my direction. I will be sure to read nothing of yours, either. You are as cancellable. The film gives no concrete answer to this, and neither will I.

So we return to our earlier questions. Is the film justified in its presentation of Tár? It depends what we mean by "justified". Tár does not deserve her fate – so we could say the film is unjustified. On the other hand, if we view Tár as a sacrifice, keeping with the Christ theme, then the film is justified. It tells us not to mindlessly cancel someone without knowing the whole story. Is the film successful? I can't get any specific data, but I think that most people would view Tár unambiguously as an abuser. Take an example. "To portray a woman in that role and to make her an abuser" writes Marin Alsop "for me that was heartbreaking". Cate Blanchett responded to this directly. "It's a meditation on power, and power is genderless" Blanchett said. Even Blanchett accepts this framing.

The Tár case is open. We don't know the full story. To judge would be wrong. We must never forget Blackstone's ratio - "It is better that ten guilty persons escape than that one innocent suffer". If you should wish to burn Tár think on this: one day you will be accused. One day you will lose your job, your house, your wife, your daughter, your life. In that moment you would beg that people know the full story first. You would be well to think on Tár.

References

Bruce Haring, Cate Blanchett Defends ‘Tar’ [sic] From Symphony Conductor’s Criticis, Deadline. Available from https://deadline.com/2023/01/cate-blanchett-defends-tar-film-from-symphony-conductors-criticism-1235222196/