Cate Blanchett’s Tar Premieres At The 79th Venice International Film Festival

Cate
Blanchett’s

Tar
has
premiered
at
the
79th
Venice
International
Film
Festival
on
September
1.
The
film,
written
and
directed
by
Todd
Field,
has
turned
heads
as
it’s
Field’s
first
film
in
the
past
15
odd
years.
Field
is
widely
known
for
his
debut
directorial
venture

In
The
Bedroom.

Blanchett
plays
Lydia
Tar,
the
titular
character,
who
is
a
master
of
conducting
and
composing
classical
music.
The
film’s
cast
includes
Noemie
Merlant,
Nina
Hoss,
Sophie
Kauer,
Julian
Glover,
Allan
Corduner,
and
Mark
Strong.
Journalist
Adam
Gopnik
appears
as
himself.

The
film
has
received
positive
reviews.
Cate
Blanchett,
especially,
has
been
receiving
overwhelmingly
positive
reviews
about
her
performance.
Her
natural
air
of
confidence
seems
to
have
lifted
the
character
up.

Owen
Gleiberman
in
a
review
for
Variety
has
said,
“Blanchett,
in
a
performance
that’s
destined
to
make
her
a
major
presence
in
this
year’s
awards
season,
plays
Lydia
Tár,
one
of
the
most
celebrated
conductors
of
her
time.”

Peter
Bradshaw
in
his
review
for
The
Guardian,
has
written
this
about
the
movie,
“I
am
not
sure
that
all
the
film’s
disparate
and
intriguing
tics
and
hints
and
feints
all
come
satisfactorily
together,
but
what
a
colossal
performance
from
Cate
Blanchett.”

In
an
interview
with
film
enthusiast
Alberto
Farina
at
the
Festival,
Todd
Field
was
asked
why
he
saw
Cate
Blanchett
as
Tar
before
he
even
started
writing
the
film,
and
Field
replied
that
he
had
never
before
written
a
film
for
an
actor.
He
said
that
she
just
came
to
his
mind,
and
he
never
questioned
that
spark
but
merely
went
with
it.

Blanchett
was
asked
about
her
challenges
in
playing
Tar.
She
said
the
biggest
challenge
was
the
technical
education
she
had
to
go
through
before
even
getting
to
the
performance.
And
she
thanked
Field
for
his
brilliant
writing,
which
brought
forward
a
layered
and
nuanced
character.

Speaking
of
how
he
approached
the
story,
Field
said
that
he
saw
a
little
girl
and
he
tried
to
envision
where
she
would
end
up
as
she
grows,
and
eventually
he
had
a
story
of
a
flawed
and
complex
genius
named
Lydia
Tar.

The
writer-director
added
that
it
was
a
liberating
experience
to
sit
down
and
take
this
character
wherever
he
wanted,
instead
of
being
restricted
by
events
in
the
life
of
his
characters
tying
him
down
to
a
certain
arc.
It
should
be
noted
that
Field
was
involved
in
a
number
of
adaptations
during
the
gap
after
his
second
film,
and
none
of
them
materialized
owing
to
multiple
reasons.