Tár is what I call a Disintegration Story. The Protagonist begins in what appears to be a Unity state, however, that is a false front. In reality, they exist in a deepseated Disunity existence. Typically, they have managed to create an illusion of them having their “act together,” top of their game. That is their public-facing “mask.” Inside their psyche, they are a roiling cauldron of psychological tension and conflicting dynamics. Often, they are repressing, suppressing, ignoring, or sequestering a deep, dark trauma or wound. This is not just a passive element, but a powerful entity. We may think of this in Jungian terms: the Shadow. The nature of the narrative is to explore this disunity state of being and compel the character to go inside, confront their inner “demons,” and refuse to change. If they embraced their need to change, that is the path toward Unity. If not, they tread a path toward dissolution.

Such is the case with Lydia Tár. When we first meet her amidst the glowing introduction by the New Yorker’s Adam Gopnik, followed by her conversation with the journalist, she comes across as a towering figure in the arena of classical music, one success after another. What follows in the first 25 pages or so continues that setup as she prepares for a crowning achievement in her career: conducting Mahler’s 5th symphony with the Berlin Orchestra, completing her own cycle of the famous composer’s nine symphonies.

And yet … there are signs of Lydia’s disunity. From the very first image of her backstage preparing for the New Yorker conversation in front of a packed audience, we get glimpses of what lies behind her public mask. Watch the first 30 seconds of this clip:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nni94-z1JoU

She is an individual consumed with being in control. We see this time and time again including multiple examples of private “rituals” she engages in to calm herself and reassert command over how she presents herself.

Then there are the pills. Whatever they are, they are extremely important to her. I’m guessing anti-anxiety medication.

Thus, the first part of the script (Act One) establishes the disconnect between Lydia’s public persona and inner dynamics roiling around beneath the surface of who she presents herself to be.

The middle (Act Two) offers a deeper exploration of these dynamics, how events transpire to deconstruct Lydia’s air of self-control and eventually in the second half of Act Two visualize her slide toward psychological disintegration. Those storylines include:

--The Plotline: Lydia’s progression toward the performance of Mahler’s 5th. Despite all of the other subplots (see below), she manages to maintain control over this professional responsibility … until the mysterious disappearance of her conductor’s score.

--Krista Taylor: There is a key backstory about a former musical protégé who had a personal relationship with both Lydia and her personal assistant Francesca (the intimation I got in reading the script was they had a three-way romantic connection). This plays out in two ways: (1) Krista’s suicide which ultimately leads to legal and professional scrutiny. (2) A mysterious series of messages involving maze images which increasingly unnerve Lydia.

--Francesca: In addition to Francesca’s personal connection to Krista, there is her professional position with Lydia. When Lydia bypasses Francesca for an opening as assistant conductor, that leads to Francesca quitting her job and disappearing. Seeing as Francesca has played a key role in helping Lydia hold her professional and personal life together, this marks a key shift in Lydia’s deconstruction.

--Olga: The young, brilliant cellist reactivates amorous feelings in Lydia (presumably the same sort of dynamic which got her into trouble with Krista). Lydia’s growing infatuation with the young woman creates increasing stress in Lydia’s ongoing relationship with her wife Sharon.

--Petra: Lydia is extremely protective of the young child Lydia and Sharon adopted. Whether innate to the child’s psychological makeup, implanted in the child’s behavior by Lydia, or a combination of both, Petra has begun to manifest similar control issues that Lydia has.

--Lydia’s shadow: All of these subplots play into the deconstruction of Lydia’s self-control which allows for deep-seated anxieties and fears to creep into the light of consciousness. There are dreams, phantasms, and a bizarre recurring two note melody, all of which grow in intensity haunting her.

All of this comes to a head at the end of Act Two (All Is Lost) where Lydia loses it all including what’s left of her ability for self-control. We see this manifest in a strange solo “concert” Lydia performs on an accordion to annoy neighbors who have requested she avoid playing music at certain times to enable them to sell their adjoining apartment unit (83):

TÁR

Apartment for sale! Apartment for

sale. Your mother’s buried deep,

and now you’re going to keep!

Her apartment for sale. Your

sister’s in jail. You put your

sister in jail. You’re all going to

Hell. Your apartment’s for sale!

All of which leads to an Act Three finale in which Lydia, who has been fired from her conducting position, leaps onto stage during the orchestra’s performance of Mahler’s 5th and assaults Eliot, who has taken over the role (84):

Her expression not unlike the beginning. Wincing, frowning,

grimacing. Eyes filling and spilling with unbridled rage.

Striding ONSTAGE, picking up SPEED to the PODIUM, and body

SLAMMING into Eliot Kaplan knocking him off the podium and

chevron and also knocking the wind out of him.

The Denouement is the extended sequence in which Lydia has traveled to the Philippines to take over as conductor for a youth orchestra doing a live performance of a high fantasy game movie entitled Monster Hunter. Given Lydia’s “monstrous” behavior exhibited during her disintegration process, that is deeply ironic.

One final note: There is a scene added in the movie, not present in the script, which appears before the film’s credits. It is a cellphone image of Lydia asleep in the back of a private jet. We assume this is from Francesca’s POV. She is texting someone, apparently Krista. Here are the texts:

what time did she get up this am

I wasn’t with her s was

Our girls an early riser isn’t she

haunted

ha you mean she has a conscience

maybe

you still love her then

This not only plants the seed for the Francesca and Krista subplots, but also presages how Lydia becomes “haunted” by her inner demons. In other words, the seeds of Lydia’s journey into deconstruction and disintegration are present at the very beginning of the story.

In sum, Tár is a movie which deeply intertwines the Protagonist’s psychological journey into the plotline, befitting a disintegration story.

Tomorrow: Characters.