Minutely-controlled world

It might seem strange that after watching over two and a half hours of Cate Blanchett’s riveting performance as fictional composer and conductor Lydia Tár, I could turn to my friend and fellow-viewer and ask: ‘What was that film about?’

This wasn’t because Todd Field’s latest work was a confused film. In one sense Tár follows a familiar trope of a musical genius whose relentless pursuit of perfection leads to breakdown and a fall from grace.

I asked the question because one of the things I love about Todd Field’s previous two films, In the Bedroom (2001) and Little Children (2006), is that he doesn’t bash you over the head with the meaning of the stories he tells, but instead invites you to think for yourself. As I have pondered what Tár is about, one phrase from the Gospels has kept entering my mind: ‘What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul?’ (Mark 8:36)