Tár lives up to its billing, The Whale so-so

In Todd Field’s film Tár we have one of the greatest actresses of our time, Cate Blanchett, as world-renowned conductor Lydia Tár, an American who has acceded to astral heights as head of the Berlin Philharmonic, her dream job in her dream city, not to mention her wife, Sharon’s (Nina Hoss) - the orchestra’s first violinist - home town. Everything is so perfect. The film opens with Tár being interviewed on stage by the real life New Yorker writer Adam Gopnik. Tár seemingly has accomplished it all, including a rare winner of all four major entertainment awards. The film is a psychological drama which, and I will say no more, addresses themes of fame, sexuality, interpersonal relationships, the elite arts world, and modern day "Me Too” and cancel culture. It may be unexpected in a politically correct Hollywood as the plot turns expected concepts on their heads. It’s reminiscent of a novel like Philip Roth’s The Human Stain. The character Tár, in other words, could not be more sophisticated, intelligent, virtuous, astute and aware. Blanchett is of course top of her game. But we also have great performances in the German actor Hoss, Sophie Kauer as Olga Metkina, whom Tár musically grooms, and Julian Glover as Andris Davis, the philharmonic’s former maestro. Its length of more than two and a half hours feels right (it could have lasted longer IMO) and fully engaging as we’re thrown into Tár’s views on music and the dynamics of her personal and professional worlds. It’s really a tour de force (named top film of 2022 by America's top three critics groups) and one of the best pictures I’ve seen in awhile…..Interestingly, the screening I attended was in the Red Dog Cinemas (photo) in Puerto Banús, Marbella, Spain. And I was one of only eight people (I counted) in the massive theatre. And less we think North Americans are stereotypical louts when it comes to cinema etiquette, I had a couple across the aisle talking incessantly throughout the film. I finally turned and told them to shut up (“you’re not in your living room”) which they mostly did and apologized later.

Last night I returned to the same cinema (this time I was the lone audience member) to see The Whale, Darren Aronofsky’s take on Samuel D. Hunter’s (who also wrote the screenplay) play. Much has been made of principal character Charlie, played by Brendan Fraser, because of his uncontrollable eating habits and gross obesity.  If you’re looking for a “film” – by which I mean a bit of action and varying scenes and drama – this isn’t it. This is a stage play through and through, and in fact could easily be staged by a local thespian group. As for content, The Whale is sometimes hard to watch because of Charlie’s physical incapacity and self-induced nausea. But there’s a flicker of life within that enormous body and that is what the play – sorry, film – is about. The movie, nominated for three Oscars, is dark (figuratively and literally), claustrophobic (because of its setting) and character-driven, which may be just enough for some of the audience.