Todd Field's Tár - An obligation or necessity?

In the year of our lord 2022, theatrically released films seem to have been more aggressive in the attempt to capture my attention. As a mere pawn, a foot-soldier in the never ending streaming wars, I feel the pull to see films in the theater. Whether it’s the Maximalist thrill rides like Baz Luhrmann's Elvis and the Daniels' Everything Everywhere all at Once, or the scarcity of Weerasethakul’s Memoria, the theater has started asking me to visit more and more.

The movie theater is my favorite place to be. The lights are low and the sounds are loud. The movie is bigger. There are no distractions like phones, or the dog barking, or your roommate coming home from work and sitting down 40 minutes into the movie so that you have to explain it to them even though it’s the end of the first act.

That’s not to say there aren’t problems with the theater. Specifically, the coughing, wheezing, and sneezing person always sitting closest to me. I therefore choose to go see movies late. I check my Alamo App for the showing with the fewest people and buy my ticket just before the lights dim. These showings are always late. Like ten o’clock at night late. Getting out at 1 AM late. It is in this reality, this overloaded, sleep-deprived, health anxiety-ridden reality, that Todd Field’s newest film exists for me. 

I like watching Oscar films. Many people have their genre of choice, but my favorites seem to come out October to December as awards contenders. Many may feel that they are trite (which is sometimes true) or pretentious (almost always), but if it has Oscar buzz, I’ll try to watch it. Tár fits the bill. The film had its obligatory, “Cate Blanchett as front-runner for Best Actress” think-pieces and its participation at both Venice and Telluride Film Festivals sealed the deal. So it made my watch-list for 2022, but seeing it wasn’t my top priority. I wanted to take my time with other new releases and get to Tár whenever I had completed Field’s back catalog of 2001’s In the Bedroom and 2006’s Little Children. In other words, Tár was not a film I felt the need to see in theaters.

I try to always watch a director’s prior films when they have a new release, but when Field’s new film came to Austin I had yet to catch up. So I rented them on Amazon, and with my monthly dues and rental fees paid to the prime-being that is Bezos, I started with In the Bedroom.

In the Bedroom

Released in November of 2001, In the Bedroom is an adaptation of Andre Dubus’ novella “Killings.” It stars Nick Stahl and Marisa Tomei as a young couple whose adult lives are just starting. Sissy Spacek and Tom Wilkinson play Stahl’s mother and father who grow concerned that this new relationship is a distraction from his graduate architecture studies. In the Bedroom is generally a film about what binds a family together. As conflict arises from their son’s relationship, Spacek and Wilkinson’s characters are forced to examine the life they have built for themselves. They begin to question their own relationship to their small New England town, friends, and ultimately to each other. These are conversations neither are particularly willing to have out of either cowardness or pride. In the Bedroom is not only a family drama but also a nuanced exploration of American values and the criminal justice system, both of which were about to be put to the test in the shadow of 9/11 and the War on Terror.

Unfortunately, as feelings of revenge and retribution took hold over the American populace, both the country's morals and the system meant to uphold justice would fail. In the Bedroom seems to be reaching into the future of American history as a warning that guilt and grief should be expressed and spoken about, not channeled into corrosive and spiteful rhetoric. The power of this film lies in its ability to encourage questions about the wider world. 

What could be different if we were just honest with one another? Would that honesty help us to be better people or at least more empathetic? Could this usher in a society that doesn’t send young men off to fight senseless wars? In the Bedroom creates space to allow these ideas to swarm in the audiences’ mind. I cannot recommend a movie more highly. It is a film that etched parts of itself on to my bones. A person likely weighs more from the sheer nuance added to their psyche by watching this movie, and Little Children is equally thought-provoking. 

Little Children

Field’s sophomore feature was released in October of 2006 and stars Kate Winslet and Patrick Wilson. It is a more literary and poetic film about two lovers, who just happen to be already married to other people, and a community’s panic surrounding a reported sex offender living down the street. 

Little Children, as the title suggests, is not about adults. The characters and community seem unable to have an adult conversation. Nuance seems to be an affront to this moral suburbia. The film goes so far as having a narrator point out the seemingly obvious thoughts of our main characters. The narration seems to be saying that you, the audience, are the exact same as this community. You must be force fed the characters’ inner thoughts because you would prefer to look away. You do look away. You look away whenever you see a person struggling and do not help them, whenever you have a chance to reach out a hand in kindness. Little Children offers the audience an opportunity to wade into murky waters but doesn’t strand them with only their own reflection as company. The film offers a guiding hand to come out the other side a better and more empathetic person, changed by the harrowing actions of the film's characters.

Director Todd Field

With these two earlier films behind me, seeing Tár had become a necessity. It was no longer a question of if Cate Blanchett’s performance is the frontrunner for best actress (it is) or whether it was important that it premiered at Venice. This is now a Todd Field film in my mind. A film by an amazing director who has told me two stories about adults and their problems, about our world and its issues. Stories that make me ask more questions and bring life to the theater-going experience. 

And so off I went, to a 9:40 showing of a 158 minute film. Tár is Todd Field’s third directed film but it is his first original screenplay. It shares some DNA with his previous work, but the only thing that I seem to come back to is his propensity to ask a lot from the audience. Tár is a film asking what you think. It’s an inkblot test that happens to have Blanchett's eyes. You are invited to watch as Tár’s life unravels and ponder on your own interactions with the world. I sat in the theater wondering if Tár’s power justified the deterioration of her moral character. Must we work so hard, and hurt so many for our own tiny piece of property? Is wanting your name at the beginning of the piece so important? Must we all consider every note or do we just play a smaller part? Is it possible to play a less corrosive part in society or possibly even a helpful one? 

Field asks us to consider and reflect on the movie and our own feelings. He is an interrogator whose films drill into minds. A filmmaker who, in collaboration with great actresses, actors, cinematographers, and sound mixers, creates expertly crafted pieces of art. Field’s films make me feel like life on this earth can be terrible, but they also show the soft and nurturing elements. They are films that walk a tightrope, and they take a huge risk in trying to have these types of conversations. These are necessary films that deserve to be seen on the big screen whenever possible.

Films like Tár should be what grab our attention. We shouldn’t be pawns for the streaming wars. We should be going to the theater. We should be going out into our community and having conversations about what we want in the world. I want more movies that offer an unique perspective on the world and make me ask questions of myself. Care to join?