She is masterful. We don’t see any other adjective to describe Cate Blanchett’s performance in Tar by Todd Field. An opinion shared by the jury of the Venice Film Festival and the voters of the Golden Globes who rewarded it.
The actress impresses as an authoritarian conductor who will be carried away in a terrifying spiral despite the support of her assistant played by an impeccable Noémie Merlant. “If Cate had refused the role, the film would never have seen the light of day, insists Todd Field who says he imagined and wrote it for the actress. It’s been years since I wanted to tell how someone who gave everything to realize his dream sees his professional success turn into a nightmare when he is accused of harassment to the point of ending up losing everything. We do not see who else but her could have so accurately embodied this woman caught up in a spiral of power games where music finds no place and who passes in record time from the status of adored star to that of of pariah abandoned by all.
From glory to nightmare
“It’s obviously a purely imaginary character,” says Todd Field. No offense to Marin Alsop who claims to have recognized herself in this tyrannical and obsessive character and to have felt “offended as a woman, as a conductor and as a lesbian”. Cate Blanchett’s reaction on British radio ClassicFM: “I didn’t base the character of Lydia Tár on anyone in particular. She is a conductor but could easily have been an architect or a boss of a big bank”. The Australian actress also brushes off the accusation of lesbophobia: “Yes it is a very provocative film, but it is an examination of the corrupting nature of institutional power which affects everyone, regardless of your sexual orientation or gender” .
And in this game, Cate Blanchett is sublime, both in glory and in the descent into hell of her character, in discussions with her musicians and in her relationship with his wife and their little girl. She never angelizes a nuanced character, capable of being as sympathetic as perfectly detestable. Enough to make her obviously the favorite for a third Oscar after those she received for Airman (2005) by Martin Scorsese and Blue Jasmine (2014) by Woody Allen when she declared ten days ago at the Critics Choice Award (which she won) “no longer supporting this system of putting actors in competition”. Another controversy?