Lydia Tár is an extraordinary conductor, as ruthless with herself as with others. Symphonies, rigour, genius, pressure, abuse and even the culture of cancellation make up a very complex score, which aims to make the viewer uncomfortable.
All of this, carried on the shoulders of Cate Blanchett, the 53-year-old Australian actress, who is nominated for an Oscar for “Best Actress”, for her work in this film that opens in theaters this Thursday.
Tár will mean the third Oscar for female interpretation for the Australian. A club that only includes Frances McDormand, Meryl Streep and Ingrid Bergman. Although the record belongs to Katharine Hepburn, with four.
The Australian actress has already made history at the Oscars, winning Best Actress in 2014 with the film Blue Jasmine, as well as in 1998, when she was part of the film Elizabeth.
For the same reason, both she and the entire audience that have already seen Tár hope that she will again be left with another Oscar statuette, taking into account that she has already won the Golden Globes.
challenging role
Two decades ago, a profile in The New York Times also defined her as a “workaholic.” In another recent article in the same newspaper, on the other hand, the actress spoke of the desire to slow down. Her from her family, her pigs, her sheep, from learning to make cheese or, perhaps, becoming a beekeeper.
The film’s director, Todd Field, expressed about the actress and her challenging role: “This script was written for an artist: Cate Blanchett. If she had said no, the movie would never have seen the light of day. This will not surprise moviegoers, fans or not. After all, she is a supreme teacher. Still, while we were making the movie, Cate’s superhuman ability and verisimilitude was a truly amazing thing to behold.”
“She exceeded all expectations. The privilege of collaborating with an artist of this caliber is impossible to adequately describe. In every way possible, this is Cate’s movie.”
a masculine world
Lydia Tár reigns in a world of men, skillfully dominating her hands and the baton, an essential phallic symbol to lead the orchestra to the desired musical destination. His curricular merits in the classical cosmos include conducting the New York Orchestra, a master’s degree from the University of Vienna after graduating from Harvard, five years of studying indigenous Peruvian songs and, as if all that were not enough, four collectible statuettes. : an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar and a Tony. The cherry on top: she knew how to be Leonard Bernstein’s protégé.
The plot finds her immersed in the preparations for a definitive recording of Mahler’s Symphony No. 5, one of those sound records destined to become a future classic for the Deutsche Grammophon record company.
To se her
23 of February
Tar (United States, 2023)
158 minutes
Drama, Musical
Cast: Cate Blanchett, Nina Hoss, Noémie Merlant, Sophie Kauer
Director: Todd Field
