“Tár” is a complex film about the complexities of the high-stakes world of classical music and the high stakes of relationships.

As “Tár” would have it, the stakes can take the form of a figurative stab in the back, shrieking like a bow dragged across the strings of a violin.

In” Tár,” Cate Blanchett plays Lydia Tár, high-powered conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra. She divides her time between Berlin and New York City.

The film, which is narrative fiction but plays very realistically, opens documentary-style with Lydia Tár interviewed by Adam Gopnik, a staff writer for New Yorker magazine at The New Yorker Festival, about her upcoming recording of Mahler’s 5th Symphony. Lydia is also writing her memoir.

It takes a village to raise a conductor to the podium. Lydia Tár depends on a personal assistant, Francesca (Noémie Merlant), and Sharon (Nina Hoss), Berlin Philharmonic concertmaster violinist. Sharon and Lydia are raising an adopted daughter, Petra (Mila Bogojevic).

We next see Lydia at lunch with Eliot Kaplan (Mark Strong), a conductor, with whom she discusses her plans to replace her assistant conductor, Sebastian (Allan Corduner), and to fill a cello position in the orchestra.

We next eavesdrop on Lydia as she teaches a class at Juilliard School of Music, New York City. She disputes the philosophy of identify politics with an African-American student (Zethphan Smith-Gneist).

Back in Berlin, Lydia reflects on her relationship with Krista, a former member of her conductor fellowship program. Lydia becomes attracted to Olga (Sophie Kauer), a young Russian cellist auditioning for the cello position in the orchestra.

No spoilers here. Suffice to to say that life and career do not go well for Lydia. The last scene is of Lydia conducting musicians recording a score for the video game series “Monster Hunter.” An audience of cosplayers looks on.

OK. We get it. Lydia Tár is a very bad person, perhaps even a monster for her behavior. In a way, she’s presented as a female version of convicted sex offender, movie producer Harvey Weinstein. Lydia’s obsession with conducting a classical music orchestra and her obsession with women is portrayed as evil.

Unfortunately, ”Tár” invokes the clichéd cinematic trope of a gay person condemned for his or her lifestyle.

”Tár” seems to point a finger, or rather a baton, at a troubled soul. The movie-goer looks on. I am reminded of the crowd scene at a parade in the short story, “My Kinsman, Major Molineux” (1832) by Nathaniel Hawthorne. Or to put it another way, as the newspaper comic strip character Pogo observed, “We have met the enemy, and he is us.”

As directed by Todd Field (“Little Children,” 2006; “In the Bedroom,” 2001), who wrote the screenplay, ”Tár” seems more preoccupied with titillation rather than a reasoned consideration of the psychological plight of the main character, Lydia Tár. The film devolves into melodrama.

Field uses flashbacks and dream sequences to disclose essential parts of the storyline that get lost in the cinematic effects. The effects are artsy and confusing.

Cate Blanchett (Oscar, actress, “Blue Jasmine,” 2013; Oscar, supporting actress, “The Aviator,” 2004; six-time Oscar nominee) is compelling and riveting as Lydia “Tár.” Without Blanchett, there is no movie. She controls every scene, showing a range of emotions from pitiful victim, to raging autocrat to hateful perpetrator. Look for an Oscar actress nomination for Blanchett.

The soundtrack by Hildur Guðnadóttir, an Iceland musician and composer, provides a nervous, jagged, often atonal unease to the film.

“Tár” will be of chief interest to fans of Cate Blanchett and classical music devotees.

“Tár,”

MPAA Rated R (Restricted: Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian.) for some language and brief nudity; Genre: Drama, Music; Run time: 2 hours, 38 minutes. Distributed by Focus Features.

Credit Readers Anonymous:

The Dresden Philharmonic Orchestra performs as the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra in ”Tár.”

At the Movies:

”Tár” was seen in Theatre514, Civic Theatre of Allentown.

Theatrical Movie Domestic Box Office,

Dec. 9 - 11: “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” continued at No. 1 for a fifth week in a row, $11 million in 3,725 theaters, $409.8 million, five weeks.

2. “Violent Night” stayed in place, $8.6 million in 3,723 theaters, $26.6 million, two weeks. 3. “Strange World” stayed in place, $3.6 million in 3,560 theaters, $30.4 million, three weeks. 4. “The Menu” stayed in place, $2.7 million in 2,710 theaters, $29 million, four weeks. 5. “Devotion” stayed in place, $1.9 million in 3,458 theaters, $16.9 million, three weeks. 6. “Black Adam” dropped one place, $1.3 million in 2,143 theaters, $166.8 million, eight weeks. 7. “The Fabelmans” moved up one place, $1.1 million in 973 theaters, $7.3 million, five weeks. 8. “I Heard the Bells” dropped two places, $750,713 in 1,1805 theaters, $4 million, two weeks. 9. “Spoiler Alert” moved up 12 places, $700,407 in 783 theaters, $803,000, two weeks. 10. “Ticket to Paradise” stayed in place, $599,795 in 1,394 theaters, $67.5 million, eight weeks.

Movie box office information from Box Office Mojo as of Dec. 11 is subject to change.

Unreel,

Dec. 16:

“Avatar: The Way of Water,”

PG-13: James Cameron directs Zoe Saldana, Kate Winslet, Sam Worthington, Sigourney Weaver, Giovanni Ribisi and Edie Falco in the Action Fantasy film. The planet of Pandora is threatened again.

“The Almond and the Seahorse,”

No MPAA rating: Celyn Jones and Tom Stern direct Rebel Wilson and Charlotte Gainsbourg in the Drama. An archeologist and an architect cope with traumatic brain injury.

Movie opening date information from Internet Movie Database as of Dec. 11 is subject to change.

Two Popcorn Boxes out of Five Popcorn Boxes