Tár
Acclaimed drama by Todd Field with Cate Blanchett as the brilliant, demanding, sometimes downright tyrannical American conductor of a prestigious German orchestra.
Writer-director Todd Field (IN THE BEDROOM, LITTLE CHILDREN) returns with his first film in sixteen years, focusing his lens on Lydia Tár, the first chief female conductor of a major symphony orchestra and an essential interpreter of classical music in the 21st century. Splitting her time between professorial duties at Juilliard and Berlin, where she’s about to record a major Mahler work, Tár rules her personal and professional worlds with an iron fist. When a young cellist joins the ensemble, however, the conductor begins pulling strings for the strings player – and a slow unravelling morphs into a perfect storm of scandal.
A take-no-prisoners showcase for Blanchett that’s aided by amazing supporting turns from Nina Hoss and Noémie Merlant, Field’s scathing character study turns the maxim ‘whom the Gods would destroy, they first make mad with power’ into the foundation for a portrait of a precipitous downfall. Cate Blanchett won the Volpi Cup (best actress award) at the Venice Film Festival for her lead role as Lydia Tár. Director Todd Field stated that he wrote the script specifically for her. ‘Had she said no, the film would have never seen the light of day. In every possible way this is Cate’s film.’