aka Ken Smith: Moby Dick and Tár

(Spoilers? Pretty sure, yes.) In Moby Dick, a monomaniacal leader chases after his glory, dragging everyone else along with him on the journey and into the depths of the sea. Melville tracks not just his crazed quest but also his effects on those around him. In Tár, a deeply selfish person with a seemingly profound connection to symphonic music mainly follows the musical genius into depths of her own creation, with occasional asides to notice how her energy disrupts life around her.#

Neither of the two of them come close to the kind of self-knowledge that might heal them. In the long book, there are other rewards for the reader besides watching a doomed, fixated quester go about his business. In Tár, it's mainly the portrait of the symphony conductor.#

The film is an opportunity for brilliance for the central actor, and I'm pretty sure she lives up to the role. It's an unlikable character, though, in a film with an unpleasant and perhaps familiar insight. Some character traits tempt people to grasp for what they should not want, should not have, and in time they destroy themselves.#

So, within the narrow path the film has chosen for itself, it's powerful and you can think about it. But like the claustrophobic gray hallways in the posh Berlin apartment where the genius lives, I'm not sure I want to walk there.#