Cate Blanchett is TÁR in the teaser for TÁR

Starring as a composer with a wrist problem, Cate Blanchett conducts an arthouse drama

By Matt Schimkowitz  |  August 25, 2022 | 7:57pm
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Cate Blanchett is TÁR in the teaser for TÁR
Cate Blanchett Photo: Focus Features

Cate Blanchett can do it all. She’s been an elf, a queen, and, of course, a Carol. And yet, in the trailer for TÁR, the latest film from Todd Field, the director of Little Children, Blanchett is giving off a whole new energy.

Lydia Tár, per the film’s synopsis, is one of the world’s greatest living composers, and judging by the trailer, she’s got a case of carpal tunnel syndrome. We keyboard jockeys can feel her pain, but as the trailer points out, a tense wrist is bad for a musician, disrupting her most important function: the ability to keep time properly. Unfortunately for Lydia, she doesn’t control time as a concept as she does when she’s conducting or playing the piano. Time marches on with or without her and with or without her music.

TÁR – Teaser – October 7

It’s hard to find a comparison for this type of thing, but the trailer has a similar tone as Pablo Larraín’s Spencer, with its fragmented editing and star-driven performance. But the character piece, as advertised, feels fuller. Rather than the woman in crisis, fixed location of Spencer, TÁR “examines the changing nature of power, its impact and durability in our modern world,” and that sounds promising!

This is Field’s first film since 2006's Little Children, which earned Oscar nominations for stars Kate Winslet and Jackie Earle Haley. It also netted one for Field and co-writer Tom Perrotta (The Leftovers) a nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay, their only nomination. TÁR looks laser-focused on making that happen again.

TÁR will premiere at the 2022 Venice Film Festival, which runs from August 31 to September 10. The rest of us unable to say ciao to TÁR in Venice will have to wait until October 7 when the film hits theaters.

 
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