ART. Todd Field’s film Tár stars Cate Blanchett as a conductor whose life in Berlin is thrown into question by serious accusations. Is the character inspired by real events?
Released in cinemas in France on Wednesday January 25, 2023, Tár is a feature film by Todd Field which is currently causing a stir in the race for the Oscars. The film received no less than six nominations for the 2023 Oscars, notably in the categories best film, best director and best actress. Cate Blanchett has also been rewarded several times for her interpretation of Lydia Tár. Her performance, for example, won her the Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Dramatic Film as well as the Best Actress Award at the Venice Film Festival.
In Tár, Cate Blanchett plays the character of Lydia Tár, the first woman to be appointed conductor at the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra. So at the height of her glory, Lydia Tár must quickly come down from her pedestal when accusations are made against her. It was then that a vertiginous fall began for the one who was previously considered a prodigy. Is the character of Lydia Tár inspired by a real conductor?
Although the promotion of the film but also its form strongly suggest a biopic (or biographical film), Lydia Tár does not exist. By his own admission at Classic FM, Cate Blanchett was not inspired by any real personality for her interpretation. She admits, however, that she “thought of Susan Sontag as a renowned intellectual, just as much as of Alma Mahler, as well as of any contemporary conductor.” The film is therefore not based on a particular conductor.
Controversy around the character of Lydia Tár
But that didn’t stop some very real people from being touched by Lydia Tár’s portrayal. This is the case of Marin Alsop, an American conductor, who has found parallels between her own life and the character of Cate Blanchett on screen. Alsop spoke about it in the columns of the Sunday Times. “So many superficial aspects of Tár seemed to be aligned with my own personal life. But once I saw the film, I was no longer worried, I was offended. I was offended as a woman, as a as a conductor and as a lesbian. To have the opportunity to represent a woman in this role and make her an aggressor is heartbreaking for me.”
Taken to task on this issue on the airwaves of BBC Radio 4, Cate Blanchett replied to Marin Alsop, recalling her “tremendous respect” for the conductor. “This is not a film about conducting, and I believe that the circumstances surrounding this character are totally fictional. I myself have watched many different female conductors but also novelists, artists and musicians of all persuasions. It’s a very non-literal film.” According to the actress, Tár is “a meditation on power and the corrupting nature of power and I think that doesn’t just happen in cultural circles.” Cate Blanchett cites the fact that her character “could quite have been a great architect or the head of a banking corporation.”
Synopsis – The first woman appointed conductor at the head of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, Lydia Tár seems to succeed in everything she does. In full preparation for a new prestigious concerto, she is also working to promote her book, whose publication is approaching. At the height of glory and almost untouchable, Lydia will nevertheless be guilty of acts that are reprehensible to say the least and which will suddenly seriously compromise her plans. Indeed, following successive revelations, she sees her brilliant reputation shattered and gradually loses all her support. A brutal fall begins…