Oct 27, 2022·edited Oct 27, 2022Liked by Tone Prose
I agree it’s bizarre that this film even exists. From the first scene to that mind-blowingly nuts final twist of the knife it was, moment for moment, the strangest thing I’ve seen since probably Lost Highway (well, at least since Magnolia). And this is coming from someone for whom Discreet Charms of the Bourgeoisie is a top-ten film.
Leaving aside the odd stew of classical music industry memes for a moment, as a visual narrative there were a number of things I enjoyed. For one, how the film thrusts you into new scenes, settings and situations with zero prelude or context. It forces the viewer to roll up their sleeves and connect disparate narrative threads themselves, threads that another director would neatly tie off for the viewer. In that sense it has high expectations for its audiences’ intellect, and it rewards the attentive (and the repeat) viewer. How often can you say that about a film these days? I also enjoyed some of the small character development details, such as those silent sequences of Lydia running by herself on the streets of Berlin. And those momentary auditory hallucinations that just came and went unexplained added an intriguing element of psychological suspense.
With respect to verisimilitude, like you, a lot of it initially struck me as parodic (the dialogue in the restaurant scene with the Gil Kaplan stand-in, and her subsequent on-stage assault of him, comes to mind). But on reflection it came to feel more like the narrative analogue of what in the visual arts is called hyperrealism. That is, not a faithful accounting of reality but an amplification of certain aspects of reality in order to expose a deeper truth—in this case, a certain vein of sociopathic opportunism that, at least to those of us on the outside looking in, certainly appears to exist at the highest levels of the classical music industry.
None of this really contradicts what you write. I do have a few nagging questions about your review, though. For one, is it really so impossible to go from ivy league ethnomusicologist to conductor? Google turns up one or two people who seem to have done just that (I had never heard of them, however). Also, even more picayune, regarding the size of Lydia’s office: is the music director’s office in the Berliner Philharmonie really as dark and cramped as you suggest? Small details, of course, but I am genuinely curious if Kirill Petrenko et. al. really work out of broom closets.
This is such an excellent comment, and I will respond to it in the newsletter. I'm preparing a special bonus edition for this weekend to do a bit more TÁR coverage.
We have a (late?) Romantic (presumably European?) orchestral work! Years of community orchestra, don't fail me now! The structure and mood feel programmatic-- a ballet suite or other dramatic orchestral work? As part of a set with a more famous movement-- I can only think of three works this describes (which also fit the general time period and style of the excerpt). The first I can rule out- I know this isn't Berlioz's Symphonie Fantastique, I've played too many Halloween concerts to be unfamiliar. The second is the larger work from which is drawn Finlandia by Sibelius, and the third is one of the several Dances of the Hours by Ponchielli-- or perhaps that is infamy rather than fame. I will also add Grieg to my basket to round out three.
I resent that this NTT would be called "pretty easy" ... as soon as I read it I knew I wouldn't know it!!
From the orchestration, I got Tchaikovsky vibes, with the luscious use of string melodies and dramatically perfect use of the rest of the orchestra.
However, some harmonic moments make me think there's no way it's Tchaikovsky (though I'm leaving him in my bucket). I'll add Sibelius (I consider this my strongest guess) and Grieg, and have no idea what the actual piece is.
I agree it’s bizarre that this film even exists. From the first scene to that mind-blowingly nuts final twist of the knife it was, moment for moment, the strangest thing I’ve seen since probably Lost Highway (well, at least since Magnolia). And this is coming from someone for whom Discreet Charms of the Bourgeoisie is a top-ten film.
Leaving aside the odd stew of classical music industry memes for a moment, as a visual narrative there were a number of things I enjoyed. For one, how the film thrusts you into new scenes, settings and situations with zero prelude or context. It forces the viewer to roll up their sleeves and connect disparate narrative threads themselves, threads that another director would neatly tie off for the viewer. In that sense it has high expectations for its audiences’ intellect, and it rewards the attentive (and the repeat) viewer. How often can you say that about a film these days? I also enjoyed some of the small character development details, such as those silent sequences of Lydia running by herself on the streets of Berlin. And those momentary auditory hallucinations that just came and went unexplained added an intriguing element of psychological suspense.
With respect to verisimilitude, like you, a lot of it initially struck me as parodic (the dialogue in the restaurant scene with the Gil Kaplan stand-in, and her subsequent on-stage assault of him, comes to mind). But on reflection it came to feel more like the narrative analogue of what in the visual arts is called hyperrealism. That is, not a faithful accounting of reality but an amplification of certain aspects of reality in order to expose a deeper truth—in this case, a certain vein of sociopathic opportunism that, at least to those of us on the outside looking in, certainly appears to exist at the highest levels of the classical music industry.
None of this really contradicts what you write. I do have a few nagging questions about your review, though. For one, is it really so impossible to go from ivy league ethnomusicologist to conductor? Google turns up one or two people who seem to have done just that (I had never heard of them, however). Also, even more picayune, regarding the size of Lydia’s office: is the music director’s office in the Berliner Philharmonie really as dark and cramped as you suggest? Small details, of course, but I am genuinely curious if Kirill Petrenko et. al. really work out of broom closets.
This is such an excellent comment, and I will respond to it in the newsletter. I'm preparing a special bonus edition for this weekend to do a bit more TÁR coverage.
We have a (late?) Romantic (presumably European?) orchestral work! Years of community orchestra, don't fail me now! The structure and mood feel programmatic-- a ballet suite or other dramatic orchestral work? As part of a set with a more famous movement-- I can only think of three works this describes (which also fit the general time period and style of the excerpt). The first I can rule out- I know this isn't Berlioz's Symphonie Fantastique, I've played too many Halloween concerts to be unfamiliar. The second is the larger work from which is drawn Finlandia by Sibelius, and the third is one of the several Dances of the Hours by Ponchielli-- or perhaps that is infamy rather than fame. I will also add Grieg to my basket to round out three.
I resent that this NTT would be called "pretty easy" ... as soon as I read it I knew I wouldn't know it!!
From the orchestration, I got Tchaikovsky vibes, with the luscious use of string melodies and dramatically perfect use of the rest of the orchestra.
However, some harmonic moments make me think there's no way it's Tchaikovsky (though I'm leaving him in my bucket). I'll add Sibelius (I consider this my strongest guess) and Grieg, and have no idea what the actual piece is.
Here's an Interview with cellist/actress Sophie Kauer in The Strad about her role in Tár:
https://www.thestrad.com/podcast/the-strad-podcast-64-cellist-sophie-kauer-on-her-role-in-tar/15636.article