UPDATE: The reviews are in and they are practically are raves. Todd Field’s “Tár” is officially the critical darling of the fall season. A Best Picture nom is practically cinched, ditto Best Actress for Cate Blanchett.
Vanity Fair, THR, IndieWire, The Telegraph, Variety, and Collider will all be near-perfect scores on Metacritic. A 92 on Metacritic as we speak.
This is the film Cannes desperately needed this year. I thought it was a better lineup than many people claimed, but a clear and thorough critical darling like “Tár” would have greatly helped.
First Showing’s Alex Billington has this to say:
“TÁR - Oh this is extraordinary! Bravo! Bravo! A confident, beautifully crafted study of an epic downfall. A ravishing look at how ego and obsession with power can warp one's mind, carving out the souls of those who cannot stop their pursuit of more power. Perfection.”
“Kubrick comparisons are absolutely spot on. Cate Blanchett's performance in this will echo throughout eternity as an all-timer, she will be studied as much as her story in the film will be studied. The music moments brought me to tears. What an exceptional film about hubris.”
EARLIER: Same deal as “White Noise” earlier today. I’ll update as more reactions come in.
The “Tár” embargo isn’t lifted until tomorrow morning. So far, it’s overwhelmingly positive and Blanchett is probably winning her third Oscar. I’ll post reactions later today. A sampling of the Letterboxd reviews also hint at the raves that are about to come …
Supposedly, the film is a statement against “cancel culture,” music to my ears. A friend, who is at Venice, just wrote: “That Tár screening you mention from tonight at Venice played so well. Audience started clapping at one point early when Blanchett delivers an anti-woke screed.”
Can we now finally stop the debate? Cate Blanchett is the best actress alive. Nobody comes close. She’s rightly earned that title.