The characters of the 2022 psychological drama Tár.
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Lydia Tár
Lydia Tár
- Played by: Cate Blanchett
"You want to dance the mask, you must service the composer. You gotta sublimate yourself, your ego, and, yes, your identity. You must, in fact, stand in front of the public and God and obliterate yourself."
The current conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, Lydia is a brilliant classical composer and conductor with an illustrious career. However, the combination of her superior view of herself and her propensity for abuse begins her downfall.
- Bunny-Ears Lawyer: Deconstructed. Lydia is arrogant and sometimes very cruel, but everyone puts up with it because she's undoubtedly brilliant. However, this isn't just putting up with someone being kind of annoying or abrasive or harmlessly eccentric; it eventually becomes clear that by continuing to employ her and turn a blind eye to her behavior, Lydia's superiors are complicit in abuse, and Lydia's using her talent and leverage to get away with doing anything she wants. It finally comes crumbling down when she finally becomes more trouble than she's worth.
- Broken Ace: Lydia Tár is beautiful, intelligent, impossibly charismatic, and quite possibly one of the most brilliant composers and conductors to ever live. She's also a manipulative, philandering, abusive, controlling narcissist with an ego as huge as it is fragile, who overall treats the people in her life very badly.
- Butch Lesbian: Lydia, while still recognizably feminine, wears tailored men's suits and flat shoes and rejects feminizing words like "maestra". She even refers to herself as Petra's "father" at one point and identifies as a "U-haul lesbian" in her guest class at Juilliard.
- Casting Couch: Tár has a habit of pursuing beautiful young women who work under her, often granting them great jobs and opportunities to either butter them up or hold over their heads later.
- Control Freak: One of Lydia's defining character traits. After years at the top of the classical music world, she has grown accustomed to having everything exactly as she wants it, from her orchestra to her classrooms to the world around her when she's composing.
- Do Not Call Me "Paul": The illustrious Lydia Tár was born under the much more quotidian name of Linda Tarr.
- Everyone Has Standards:
- When Lydia is discussing what might happen to a conductor whose personal life was placed under public scrutiny with her mentor, she appears visibly uncomfortable when he responds with the story of a German conductor who was stripped of his position by the Soviets due to his collaboration with the Nazis... and takes the side of the maestro.
- Despite being no stranger to manipulating and trying to groom/seduce younger girls, Lydia is absolutely nauseated when she is taken to a brothel in the Philippines, having mistaken it for a massage spa.
- Fallen-on-Hard-Times Job: The ending shows Tár, who once ran one of the most prestigious orchestras in the world, conducting the orchestra for a performance of a video game soundtrack at a convention in the Philippines.
- Famed In-Story: Tár isn't just a successful conductor and composer; she's one of the most famous and beloved figures in modern classical music, mentioned in the same breath as her mentor Leonard Bernstein.
- Fatal Flaw: Tár's, like so many other tragic heroes before her, is Pride. She starts the movie as the queen of modern classical music, fully aware of her own brilliance, and believes it gives her license to do whatever she wants, whether that's humiliating a student in a master class or abusing her power to solicit sex from members of her orchestra. By the end of the movie, she's removed from her post and is so incensed at the idea that someone else could conduct in her place that she attacks them in front of the entire audience, destroying her career.
- Female Misogynist: Tár is a complicated example that falls closest into Type 1. A pioneering woman in a male-dominated field, she insists on not being viewed or treated any differently from her male peers on account of her gender down to rejecting female gendering of her title ("Maestro", not "Maestra") and even her parental identity (she calls herself Petra's "father", not "mother"), and she also wants to open up the female-only scholarship provided by her foundation to men, calling the gender restriction "unnecessary." The film doesn't identify this as the reason Tár belittles, exploits, harasses, and potentially abuses the women who work under her, but it suggests that she strives to succeed within the confines of patriarchy rather than try to subvert or change that system. It’s possible that she finds it more satisfying that way.
- Hollywood Tone-Deaf: Lydia's response to the neighbors wanting her to not rehearse while showing the apartment for potential buyers is to musically insult them
, not caring if either her voice or her accordion are in tune. - How the Mighty Have Fallen: Lydia starts off as a respected conductor who's one of the most well-known names in classical music circles, at the top of her game, until it all comes crashing down and her career collapses under her. By the end, she's reduced to taking a post in the Philippines conducting the score for Monster Hunter at a fan convention, having previously expressed disdain for video games.
- Hypocrite:
- One of Lydia's claims to fame in-story is her fellowship for aspiring women conductors, suggesting that she is a champion for greater gender equality in an extremely male-dominated world. Very quickly, we learn that Lydia has little investment in other women's success; she privately considers opening up the fellowship's funding to men and abuses and obstructs the careers of at least one recipient of the fellowship funding.
- Lydia chides Sebastian for his "hatred of marriage" in carrying on an affair with the married Andris. Her own marriage to Sharon hasn't stopped her activities.
- She tells Max that in order to succeed as a great musician, one must sublimate one’s ego, which is pretty rich coming from an egomaniac like Lydia.
- Insistent Terminology: Lydia Tár will be addressed as "Maestro", thank you very much — not the feminine "Maestra".
- Insufferable Genius: Deconstructed. Her status as a world-renowned composer and conductor means that her abrasive, manipulative tendencies are tolerated for the sake of keeping her around. This leads to her abusing her power to the point of driving a young woman to suicide, something no amount of genius could possibly justify.
- Jerkass Has a Point: Tár's diatribe against Max for dismissing Bach and the rest of the classical canon makes some salient points, such as their aversion to Bach based solely on identity being similar to jazz music was similarly dismissed as just "Negro music," and even comes close to winning them over... until Tár goes too far and humiliates them in front of the rest of the class.
- Kick the Dog: Tár taking advantage of young women she has power over is already bad, but spitefully destroying Krista's career after their "relationship" ended was just cruel.
- Lack of Empathy: Tár does have people she cares about, but the people she doesn't, she really doesn't. She coldly brushes off Krista's suicide, focusing only on covering her own ass after the fact, and makes only a token effort to comfort Francesca, who was apparently very close with Krista and is distraught by her death.
- Lady in a Power Suit: Tár wears a series of neatly tailored suits throughout the film - justified, as that's the standard outfit for a conductor.
- Mama Bear: Lydia calmly and coldly threatens to "get" a little girl at Petra's school when she realizes that she's bullying her. It works; the girl doesn't bother Petra after that.
- Mean Boss: Tár takes her assistant, Francesca, utterly for granted, completely depending on her to manage her impossibly busy schedule while stringing her along with promises of a promotion she's in no hurry to bestow. This is also part of what leads to her downfall.
- Narcissist: Lydia really is brilliant, but years of being treated as God's gift to music seems to have left her actually believing it, and she regularly walks all over other people to get what she wants. She clearly has high ambitions for herself, many of which she achieves via questionable means, and takes all her privileges and acclaim for granted. Her own wife notes that she views nearly every relationship in her life as transactional, only seeing other people as what they can do for her, and is utterly unconcerned with the feelings of others. She takes ire with anyone who dares disagree with her, and reacts violently when she's replaced.
- Prefers Going Barefoot: Always walks around barefoot in her apartment.
- Psycho Lesbian: Lydia is a sexually predatory lesbian who manipulates younger women and then (as shown with Krista) ices them out and blacklists them. She drives Krista to suicide.
- Rags to Riches: Linda Tarr grew up in a working-class household in Staten Island and went on to become a celebrated conductor of one of the world's most prestigious orchestras, renaming herself in order to fit in more with the highbrow world of classical music.
- Real Award, Fictional Character: Among many other accolades, Tár is mentioned early on to be one of the few people with an EGOT (that is, an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar, and a Tony Award), establishing her as one of the greatest luminaries in her field.
- Sadist Teacher: Early in the film, Lydia is acting as a guest teacher for a master class at Juilliard. One can certainly see her appeal as an instructor; she is charismatic, accomplished, and extremely well-educated and passionate about music. However, she also has little interest in her students conducting compositions from outside the classical canon, and when a pangender BIPOC student named Max resists her initial attempt to persuade them, Lydia derails the class to focus on belittling and humiliating them in front of the rest of the other students until Max storms out.
- Sanity Slippage: Lydia starts hallucinating more and more noises as her stress levels mount. She also starts losing her composure easier, ending in a nadir of her vengeful playing an accordion to annoy neighbors and sneaking into the performance of Mahler's 5th to attack Eliot onstage.
- Stage Name: Turns out Lydia was born Linda Tarr.
- Terrified of Germs: In her introductory interview scene, Tár cleans her hands with antiseptic spray before taking a pill, and she is shown to be fastidious about personal hygiene throughout the film; this could be a holdover from the pandemic, or another reflection of her desire for control in her personal and professional life. This comes up most explicitly when she's asked to help her neighbour lift her naked and soiled mother, and upon returning to her apartment begins frantically scrubbing at her own body.
- Ungrateful Bastard: Lydia denies Francesca a promotion after Francesca covers up incriminating evidence of Lydia's interference in Krista's career.
- Villainous Parental Instinct: Lydia genuinely adores her daughter Petra who is the one person she cares about more than herself and is devastated when Sharon takes her away from her at the end,
- Villain Protagonist: Lydia Tár, while not without her sympathetic moments, is ultimately an egotistical abuser who is responsible for almost everything bad that happens in the story, and the film follows her tragic (if fully deserved) fall from grace.
- Wounded Gazelle Gambit: After Lydia faceplants into concrete, she pretends she was attacked to gain sympathy.
Sharon Goodnow
Sharon Goodnow
- Played by: Nina Hoss
"There are many things I accept about you. And in the end, I am sure I could get over something like this. But that's not what we're talking about, is it?"
Lydia's wife. Being the concertmaster (first violinist) of the Berlin Philharmonic means she witnesses Lydia's power at work.
- Jealous Romantic Witness: Sharon has to watch while Lydia caresses and congratulates Olga after playing. The context isn't explicitly sexual, but it's clear where it's going.
- Taking the Kids: Sharon ultimately leaves Lydia and takes Petra despite Lydia's tearful pleas.
- Was It All a Lie?: Inverted. Sharon reveals she's always seen her relationship with Lydia as Lydia using her, but Lydia denies it and seems hurt to find out her wife thinks her love is a lie. How sincere Lydia is being in this moment is up for debate.
Francesca Lentini
Francesca Lentini
- Played by: Noémie Merlant
"I'm sorry. I know you're working. Your keys are on the kitchen table."
Lydia's devoted assistant who hopes that Lydia will help her career.
- Beleaguered Assistant: Francesca basically keeps Tár's whole life on-track and gets very little respect in return.
- The Dog Bites Back: Francesca pays Tár back for years of mistreatment by confirming the allegations against her are true, wrecking her career.
- Girl Friday: Francesca does everything for Lydia, such as managing her schedule and getting her tailoring. When she abruptly resigns Lydia is left floundering, but is too narcissistic to admit that she took Francesca for granted.
Olga Metkina
Olga Metkina
- Played by: Sophie Kauer
"Of course [Rostropovich] was great, we study him at Moscow Conservatory. But growing up, my favorite is Jacqueline du Pre. She made me want to play cello."
A talented young cellist who joins Tár's orchestra.
- Hidden Depths: Olga is much more keen than her boorish manners imply. She's well aware of Lydia's habits and plays into her affections while also dismissing her advances and even possibly faking her residence so Lydia won't know her real address.
- Hired for Their Looks: Lydia changes her evaluation of a blind playtest after realizing that the cellist she was listening to was Olga, the attractive woman she saw in the bathroom. Lydia subtly tries to pursue Olga throughout the rest of the film.
- Squee: Olga squeals with joy after she is not only accepted into the orchestra, but set for a cello solo.
Elliot Kaplan
Elliot Kaplan
- Played by: Mark Strong
"Please... I know my place... money can't always buy everything."
An investment banker with an interest in composing. He manages Lydia's Accordion fellowship for aspiring female composers.
- Green-Eyed Monster: Maybe. He's clearly a hanger-on to Lydia's success and jumps at the chance to conduct Mahler's 5th after she is fired. The film posits that he may have stolen her score to do so, but doesn't clarify.
- No Historical Figures Were Harmed: May have been inspired by Gilbert Kaplan: a successful businessman who's also an amateur conductor of Mahler.
Sebastian Brix
Sebastian Brix
- Played by: Allan Corduner
"Oh, please. Just because no one dares breathe it."
Lydia's aging assistant conductor.
- Character Tics: Sebastian clicks a pen whenever he's talking to Tar, which irritates her. In their final scene, she surreptitiously steals the pen off his desk to make him stop.
- Informed Attribute: Lydia accuses him of hating his marriage to Andris, but as we never see the two onscreen together it's unclear if this is just Lydia projecting her unhappy marriage onto him.
- Reluctant Retiree: Lydia wants to phase him out and tries to frame it as him finally being ready to be a conductor in his own right, but Andris knows perfectly well that she just wants to fire him in favor of the next pretty young thing.
Andris Davis
Andris Davis
- Played by: Julian Glover
"I'm proud to say you were my pupil. Even though there was really nothing I could teach you."
The previous conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic.- Morality Pet: Lydia may be a heinous bitch, but she seems to have genuine affection for Andris, her elderly mentor. She secretly pays for a chauffeur for him out of her own pocket so that he doesn't feel neglected in his old age.
Krista Taylor
Krista Taylor
- Played by: Sylvia Flote
A former recipient of Lydia's Accordion fellowship. Lydia blacklisted her from the industry, and Krista became mentally unwell in the aftermath.
- Driven to Suicide: Krista ultimately takes her own life after her career is ruined by Tár.
- The Faceless: Several early scenes are shot from behind a woman with dark red hair, who seems to be stalking Tar. It's not until much later that her identity is revealed.
- The Ghost: Krista is regularly discussed but never appears outside of glimpses in dreams, a brief shot of her at Lydia's opening interview, and the picture in her obituary.
Max
Max
- Played by: Zethphan Smith-Gneist
A Juilliard student.
- Character Tics: Max nervously bobs his leg up and down during Tar's class. She eventually grabs his thigh to make him stop.
- Hypocrite: Max insists that they don't like Bach because he was a misogynist for having so many children, but when Lydia goes too far humiliating them, they jump to calling her a bitch.
- Jerkass: When Lydia tries to help him, albeit somewhat heavy-handedly, he calls her a fucking bitch and storms out of the class.
- Jerkass Has a Point: While Max is stubborn and a bit reductive towards the classical canon, their criticism of the fact that the canon is made up almost solely of cis white men is not an invalid point, and they're not wrong for feeling like an outsider in the music world because of it. Of course, Max failing to come up with a rebuttal, but instead resorting to calling Lydia "a fucking bitch" and storming off only proves that Lydia's point about their objection to Bach being more about ego and self-perception of cultural superiority, not unlike Lydia herself.
- Quaking with Fear: Max exhibits several Nervous Tics during their class with Tár, including a severely trembling knee. While she doesn't directly comment on it, this seems to irritate the composed conductor immensely and culminates in her grabbing their leg, marking the point where their argument becomes far more hostile.
- Soapbox Sadie: Max, a student at one of Tár's master classes, comes across as this when they speak out against the classical canon for being comprised of dead white men. Tár's withering response, filmed and selectively edited, becomes part of the storm of bad publicity that leads to her downfall.
Petra
Petra
- Played by: Mila Bogojevic
"I'm going to give everyone a pencil."
Lydia and Sharon's elementary-aged adopted daughter.
- Calling Parents by Their Name: Petra refers to Lydia by her name rather than "Mom," reflecting Lydia's aloof nature.
- Morality Pet: No matter what else you can say about Tár, she loves her daughter Petra very fiercely and appears to be a pretty good mother.
