Thoughts on Tar (2022)

Ok, coming into this movie, I didn’t really know what to expect.

And what I got was a (mostly) accurate portrayal of how people in power are so callous to those around them. Too often in movies, we see people cartoonishly evil. Where in fact, where a lot of this movie succeeds early on is the almost documentary like nature of Tar’s life as she goes from meeting to meeting, making decision without ever really considering the consequences.

The movie is also keen on the question of when does art become problematic due to the artist. The movie never really answers it, but it does throw in lots of opinions and examples. Eventually, though, if you can’t work with your peers, talent loses out. I think that is really strongly shown in the Juilliard lecture which works on multiple levels. That really is an amazing scene.


I will say this movie is pretty damn dense. Like I love classics music but there’s a ton of music talk in it and a ton of classics music references that mean nothing to me.

I do think the movie is too long. There were a couple aspects of the ending that I didn’t like and it didn’t make sense. Doesn’t really matter to me for a movie like this though. I thought the first 3/4ths of the movie were very strong and overall, if your intellectually curious, there’s a lot to be had.