Cate Blanchett discusses the “anti-woman” criticisms of ‘TÁR’
Last year, Cate Blanchett delivered the performance of a lifetime while starring in Todd Field’s new film, TÁR. Although it was a box office bomb, TÁR earned widespread critical acclaim and was voted as one of the greatest films of 2022 for its examination of power and corruption.
Cited as the perfect modern response to the climate of cancel culture, TÁR stars Blanchett as Lydia Tár, a highly respected composer and conductor. Although she has reached the pinnacle of the music world, her entire life changes when people discover how she has abused her position of power to control her subordinates.
Renowned female conductor Marin Alsop spoke out against the film in an interview with The Sunday Times, stating: “I was offended as a woman, I was offended as a conductor, I was offended as a lesbian. There are so many men – actual, documented men – this film could have been based on but, instead, it puts a woman in the role but gives her all the attributes of those men. That feels anti-woman. To have an opportunity to portray a woman in that role and to make her an abuser? For me, that was heartbreaking.”
During a recent conversation with BBC Radio 4, Blanchett responded to the claims: “I have the utmost respect for Marin Alsop. She’s a trailblazer of a musician and a conductor. And, it’s a very provocative film and it will elicit a lot of very strong responses for people.”
Blanchett added: “I don’t think you could have talked about the corrupting nature of power in as nuanced away as Todd Field has done as a filmmaker if there was a male at the centre of it because we understand so absolutely what that looks like. I think that power is a corrupting force no matter what one’s gender is. I think it affects all of us.”
The actor continued: “What [director Todd Field] and I wanted to do was to create a really lively conversation. So there’s no right or wrong responses to works of art. It’s not a film about conducting, and I think that the circumstances of the character are entirely fictitious. I looked at so many different conductors, but I also looked at novelists and visual artists and musicians of all stripes. It’s a very non-literal film.”
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