Here is an example of a movie that is showing the evasive ambiguity of a human being. And dragged out to length with vague images . . .
The character (Tar) is (apparently) some sort of predator, possibly narcissist, pretentious & condescending, delicately evasive, displays 'entitled' detachment. But we also see other sides of her, seemingly considerate partner, quite good with her daughter, skilled at music and teaching, sense of humor, high achievements.
She weilds her position & fame together - apparently to maintain it as well as revel in the submission & 'dire respect' of every person in her realm.
That is until almost everyone, one by one, then in groups, finally realize how fickle she is.
And we finally discover she's from a very humble background, has excelled, yet has elaborated a fake persona, and in the end, all her spinning plates fall, and she gets taken down to the very bottom of the proverbial ladder.
I thought the very end was rather comical given her achievements combined with the high brow persona she constructed both thru legitimate education & as a result of achieved fame. We realize, by the end tho, her achievements would have meant much, much more if she had embraced her true self & background rather than changed it.
In fact, unless you're at least somewhat familiar with academic psychology and understand to some degree the dynamics of low self-esteem and resulting behavioural patterns, you will be totally bored with this movie. And you may even be bored with it if you are a psychology major . . .
But I barely deciphered any of the movie story or elements by watching the movie. The movie plays exactly like a dream; disjointed, illogical, snippets of images or events . . . As if you're a fly on the wall yes, - but one that comes and goes.
I had to do some plot reading to nail down one thing:
This fictional movie portrays the same vague, questioning, ambiguity that the general public & investigative commitees in reality have over any scandal.
I reckon that was what the directors goal - with only the addition of us being able to see her nightmares, 'hallucinations' & hearing sounds. (these all suggest schizophrenia)
All these story elements given to the viewer in Tar's private moments on screen - that in reality the public or a committee would never see; the nightmares, abusing young girls, sounds, or whatever scenes were supposed to be 'hallucinations' - were all so extremely vague & inexplicit as to simply leave me frustrated.
Again - maybe that's the exact point . . . ?
I did register expressions of distaste from her partner over Tars decisions, glances, & comments towards certain women.
Tars assistant shows expressions implied of utter respect & admiration as well as utter resignation & hopelessness. Other characters revealing expressions; - the conversation with the releasing of the assistant conductor began with polite conversation which Tar escalated into hatefulness, the deserving cellist overlooked/replaced, the condescension Tar engaged in towards the male orchestra leader (Mark Strongs character who remained admiring, respectful & rather desperately so) and who Tar ultimately attacked in a public display of raging jealously, etc.
But overall, we as the viewer are given very, very little of what really ever actually happened other than the blacklisted girl who commits suicide. Yet I keep going back to the (only possible) point of the movie;
The inner working mind of any person is a complete mystery to every one else. All we can do is watch their actual actions play out AND/OR view them thru hearsay or media and try to piece together some kind of truth.
The bottom line is - do I really wanna deal with that level of ambiguity in a fictional movie???
No. And I avoid it in reality as well.
There's an avalanche of reality investigative programs, actual biographies, actual local, national, and world news to provide all the ambiguous stories one can possibley endure from crime to politics, wars, sports, and entertainment.
For a movie, I don't mind a little open-ended ideology or tossing good conversational questions. I mean everything in every movie doesn't have to conclude in a neat little package, and 'The End'.
Sure, I like to engage in 'what if' and story imagination 'before & after' what's presented on the screen.
But I do tend to prefer to check out from a lot of the ambiguities of reality, get engaged in a story and have at least a few things made clear. And pretty often these sort of psychological films just aren't going to do that, bc the disturbed human mind is so evasive . . .
Finally, I expect the long running time of this movie exists in order to try to insert as many of these ambiguous elements as possible in an attempt to portray how a self-aggrandized cookie crumbles.
But in fact, it could'a been done with more concrete story images in a standard length film.
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