I liked it! Definitely not the greatest movie I’ve ever seen EVER, but Ms. Blanchett was excellent. Plus, the movie did make you think just a bit in psychological suspense terms. Thinking in a dramatical sense is not really encouraged in a ton of movies these days. This movie also made me think of Whiplash a tiny bit. Although Whiplash was a movie I totally hated at first, but later came to appreciate more.
...most definitely I am a huge fan as well...there has not been any movie of hers that I disliked her part...
Saw it today. Thought it mostly excellent and didn't feel long. Some of the auditory disturbances were a bit over done for my liking but nothing too egregious. As for the central performance - simply sensational. No superlative is too strong.
Finally saw it. Loved it everything about it, even the parts I had to have explained to me through various reviews after the fact. At some point down the road I'll probably watch again, but going to take some time to let it all sink it.
We finally were able to watch it last night. Loved it, absolutely loved it. I was smugly proud getting a lot of the classical music references and mansplaining them to my wife as she rolled her eyes at me. The movie haunted my dreams. It really took some dark turns, and did so brilliantly. My head is still spinning about the last 45 minutes of the movie. It takes its sweet time getting somewhere, but it's so engaging and brilliant that I enjoyed the ride. The cinematography was incredible as well, lots of subtle use of shadows and color. Really well done over all. dan c
I'm really looking forward to seeing it, but it's still another month before it gets to theatres here.
Starts off very heavy and elitist (long interview and class scenes) but it gets better after that. Stylistically and artistically, it's probably the most European film ever made by an American director. I didn't understand the ending (the last shot). Was it literal or allegorical?
I think it's to be taken literally that this conductor is now working on video game soundtracks for an audience of cosplayers in the Philippines instead of conducting Mahler's Fifth. A comedown.
Spoiler: Spoiler She’s also is conducting to a metronome as the orchestra has to be synced with the video playing behind the orchestra. It’s a fun little comeuppance, but for me the movie lost its footing at the halfway point and never recovered.
Aw man, I missed that detail! Ouch. The final scene feels very real, but there are a lot of really strange things in the last 45 minutes or so that feel more imagined that real. She was popping a lot of pills and living on intermittent sleep. Like I said earlier, it was pretty haunting overall. dan c
I thought Blanchett gave a great performance but not much of a fan of movies where the filmmaker has such obvious contempt for the lead character they have created
I watched it last night and enjoyed it. It's definitely not for those who need a lot of action! My main gripe is a lot of the short scenes just seemed random and didn't contribute anything to the plot or characterization. Still, it was a fine achievement for all involved. The new cellist in the orchestra is actually a real concert cellist who made her acting debut in it. For once a musician was actually playing! (Most movies do a terrible job of faking string playing--vibrato is wrong, left hand in the wrong position/string, etc.) Kate did all of her own piano playing, too. At first I thought the ending was weird, but now I think she was trying to redeem herself by getting away from the political/corporate atmosphere of the music world and she's now making music for the pure joy of it.
I agree. I don’t think the script gave Cate any favors to make her likable. I wish there was something about why her character acted like she did to feel some sort of compassion/sympathy for her but there was none of that. They just made her a horrible person and you rooted for her downfall. Cate was great but the movie was 2 hours of watching a horrible person never growing or learning from her errors.
That’s interesting isn’t it? I took the ending as her being at the bottom of her career decent having burned every bridge. Different interpretations are always good though.
If one reaches rock bottom, one can continue to crawl among the ruins or try to find a way out. Also, and perhaps I misheard since some of the dialogue wasn’t clear, but weren’t orchestras such as the one at the end part of a foundation she ran to provide resources for, yet she neglected them? Perhaps it was also a way for her to fulfill her obligations/mission. The movie frequently didn’t provide clear answers to questions, which is fine since I don’t need to be spoon fed all the time!
Her mission was to follow in the footsteps of Bernstein, her mentor, and complete her high profile conducting/recording of Mahler's Symphonies. All of that utterly crashed and burned, and she's ended up playing video game music at a Philippines cosplay convention. How this can be seen in any way positive, I can't comprehend. We see the undoing of her entire life play out right in front of us. I'm not knocking video game music and those kinds of concerts myself - I think they are a great idea. But there's nothing to suggest that the character would agree. I agree with any sentiments that Blanchett did an incredible job - and reading about her efforts, she learned piano/conducting/German who knows what else to portray the character. But yeah, it wasn't a film I would ever revisit. I think it is essentially about fall-from-grace/cancel culture, #metoo, and the temptations and abuses of power and privilege. Which are very important concerns today thankfully. But in the end of the film, there's neither any relief at seeing her getting what she deserves, or pity for her. Still, I'm glad I saw it, I thought it was worth seeing once and thinking about a little after.
I saw it tonight. I was very impressed. The early scene with the Juilliard students where she's shocked that a young conductor-hopeful would dismiss accomplished giants Mahler and Beethoven because they're white, cis, males is fascinating. Blanchett, as always, was excellent. She seems to be at her best playing women who are (or are on the verge of) falling apart.
Still trying to secure a physical disc from Netflix to watch this one on my proper sound system (it’s proving very popular).
I saw this in the theater today. Fantastic, offering so much to think about. My opinion is a great artist is rarely also a wonderful human being, so I wasn't expecting and in fact would have been surprised at likability on Tar's part.
