In the theater, knowing nothing about it (I hadn’t even seen the poster, a friend wanted to see the movie and I sometimes enjoy experiencing books from page one and films from frame one, without any posters, covers, or back-of-book blurbs), I loved it. I thought it was so good.
Coming home from the theater and finding out that there were many rightwingers and anti-SJW folks who loved the movie, that didn’t bother me since I thought they were misunderstanding the movie. Like the scene where she’s clashing with a class of students who are on the progressive side… they’re caricatures, sure, but she isn’t coming across as “owning” them, she’s depicted as completely out of touch, cruel, out to sea, lost. The rest of the movie makes that clear. Again, those students’ perspectives aren’t necessarily 100% endorsed but the movie takes her side much less than it takes their side. That was my thinking.
Movies that try to be these intricate puzzle boxes with some non-linear elements rarely come together but this one did. That one scene where she returns to her old home… So great. Everything was great.
But then finding out that many of Tár’s biographical details were literally lifted out of Marin Alsop’s life soured me on the movie. That is wrong. That made me hate the movie and now I hate the movie. Yep that’s how I am! I can turn on a dime with these things.