Considering it is his first film in nearly two decades, it comes as no surprise that Todd Field packed quite a lot into TÁR––so much that it can’t be contained to just one feature-length film. Having already directed a music video featuring his cast, he’s now releasing a new short that expands the TCU (TÁR Cinematic Universe). The news was unveiled in this morning’s announcement that TÁR will screen at Berlinale with the cast and crew present.
“Showing TÁR in Berlin for a special screening was a natural choice. In a cinematic way, the acclaimed work of Todd Field and his actors has captured the special flair of this city. We are very happy that Todd Field along with Cate Blanchett, Nina Hoss and composer Hildur Guðnadóttir have accepted our proposal to share some of the secrets of their work in a public talk at Berlinale Talents. We are also delighted to be premiering a new short that expands the TÁR universe, THE FUNDRAISER, that will screen alongside their talk,” said Artistic Director Carlo Chatrian.
While there are no specific details on the length of the short or what it may contain, it’s no surprise the film is getting a premiere in Berlin, where it was partially shot. Here’s hoping the short film has more substance than simply being a deleted scene, and ideally it will make its way online around Oscar time.
As we await more details, Tony Gilroy also had some kind words to say about the film for Variety:
I want you to know how much I loved this film.
I want to tell you why in the most concise, controlled, compressed manner possible. But when I’m done, I want you feel that I’ve barely scratched the veneer, because that’s exactly how I felt seeing “Tár.”
I want you to know how blown away I am by Todd’s craftmanship and rigor; the casting, the performances, the specificity of the world-building, the exciting, unselfconscious camerawork, the color-temperatures, the mix, the tempo … I want you to know, from a purely technical perspective, how impressed I am with the way he’s made and delivered this unusual movie. But those are all tangible filmmaking components; a bit more than veneer, perhaps, but they’re all, ultimately, variables of taste, economy and how much obsession can be wrestled to the screen.
What makes this film extraordinary to me — the thing I want to carry forward and remember — is the chaos inside all that. Because it’s that friction that makes this film so powerful for me. How do you marry precision and enigma? How do you make something so firmly controlled and have it spilling over with the unresolved anarchy of real human behavior? How do you pull off disorientation and vertigo inside of such a confident machine?
And then, the coup de grâce — Cate Blanchett. How brilliant and brave to place, at the center, a character whose every scene builds toward that same idea, that same dissonance.
Hard and perfect on the outside. Mayhem brewing within. Masterwork.
Also, don’t miss our in-depth discussion of the film below.