{"id":90779,"date":"2022-10-08T09:19:15","date_gmt":"2022-10-08T09:19:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/cate-blanchett-explains-how-oscar-hopeful-tar-addresses-cancel-culture\/"},"modified":"2022-10-08T09:19:15","modified_gmt":"2022-10-08T09:19:15","slug":"cate-blanchett-explains-how-oscar-hopeful-tar-addresses-cancel-culture","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/cate-blanchett-explains-how-oscar-hopeful-tar-addresses-cancel-culture\/","title":{"rendered":"Cate Blanchett explains how Oscar hopeful &#8216;T\u00e1r&#8217; addresses cancel culture"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p>When the lights come up on <em>tar<\/em>, don&#8217;t be surprised if you leave the theater thinking that you&#8217;ve been watching a documentary rather than a fictional feature.  Todd Field&#8217;s expansive, absorbing new drama \u2014 which opens in theaters on Oct.  7 after premiering at the Venice and New York film festivals \u2014 immerses viewers so completely in the life of classical music maestro Lydia T\u00e1r, played by Cate Blanchett, that the line between performer and character vanishes within the film&#8217;s first half-hour.  And the Oscar-winning actress tells Yahoo Entertainment that reflected her experience making the movie as well.  (Watch our video interview above.)<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The membrane became quite thin, because the experience was so intense,&#8221; says Blanchett, who will likely earn another Best Actress nomination to add to her existing four nods.  (She won that statue for her performance in 2014&#8217;s <em>Blue Jasmine<\/em>and has a Best Supporting Actress Oscar in addition to two other nominations in that category.) &#8220;It also had to do with the filmmaking: From the beginning, Todd wanted it to be very much fly on the wall. He wanted you to feel like you were not only inside the room with these people, but inside the minds and concerns of the characters.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Field&#8217;s approach necessitated a demanding schedule, made all the more challenging by the short production time.  &#8220;It was a short, sharp shoot, so we were often preparing the night before for things that were coming up at 6 am the next day,&#8221; Blanchett recalls.  &#8220;It was constant, but I felt very alive making the movie. It was really exciting, so I can&#8217;t complain!&#8221;<\/p>\n<figure class=\"caas-figure\">\n<div class=\"caas-figure-with-pb\" style=\"max-height: 540px\">\n<div>\n<div class=\"caas-img-container caas-img-loader\" style=\"padding-bottom:56%;\"><noscript><img alt=\"Cate Blanchett plays a slowly-cancelled classical music maestro in T&#xe1;r.  (Photo: Focus Features \/ Courtesy Everett Collection)\" src=\"https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/ny\/api\/res\/1.2\/FsFhZ1JKt4jw0RPx1sm0rQ--\/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MDtoPTU0MA--\/https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/os\/creatr-uploaded-images\/2022-10\/2a5a1300-44bc-11ed-a57a-68d28a9007b5\" class=\"caas-img\"\/><\/noscript><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><figcaption class=\"caption-collapse\">Cate Blanchett plays a classical music maestro in <em>tar<\/em>.  (Photo: Focus Features \/ Courtesy Everett Collection)<\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<p><em>tar <\/em>further blurs the lines between fact and fiction by rigorously exploring real world issues that are playing out in real time right now.  When we first meet Lydia, she&#8217;s one of the most successful conductors in the rarefied classical musical world, with a prominent berth in front of a famous Berlin orchestra, a lucrative speaking career and a new book on the way.  Things at home appear equally stable, as she&#8217;s happily married to her lead violinist, Sharon (Nina Hoss), and raising their young daughter.<\/p>\n<p><button class=\"link caas-button collapse-button\" aria-label=\"\" title=\"\" data-ylk=\"elm:readmore;slk:Story continues\">Story continues<\/button><\/p>\n<p>But as the movie unfolds, subtle cracks appear in her life&#8217;s foundation \u2014 cracks that her own actions may have caused.  On social media, accusations mount that Lydia has been &#8220;grooming&#8221; some of the young women in her orbit \u2014 including the orchestra&#8217;s new cellist, Olga (Sophie Kauer) \u2014 and edited videos emerge that depict each perhaps questionable lecturing methods.  Essentially, she&#8217;s the subject of a slow-motion cancellation, and we watch the impact of so-called &#8220;cancel culture&#8221; play out through her eyes.<\/p>\n<p>In the film, Field is careful to leave Lydia&#8217;s culpability in her downfall ambiguous, and he deliberately avoided answering that question in his own mind.  &#8220;The impulse for writing the film was about a lot of questions I&#8217;d been pondering about power that I&#8217;d been unable to answer,&#8221; says the writer\/director, whose previous films include the Oscar-nominated <em>Little Children <\/em>and <em>In the Bedroom<\/em>.  &#8220;At the end of the day, that state of mind of asking questions about power and what I knew and what I didn&#8217;t know&#8230; is really what the movie is about. So in terms of filling in any narrative certainty, that would be completely antithetical to why I wrote the script in the first place.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Hoss says that she agreed with Field&#8217;s captivatingly ambiguous approach.  &#8220;That&#8217;s what drew me to the whole story \u2014 there is no judgment. It is kind of vague, but those things are sometimes vague and we live in this world of social media, which is an added complication because you can fake things. What [the film] mainly does is raise questions so that we all start a conversation about it without having judged already.  The film does n&#8217;t make it easy for you to say, &#8216;Yeah, she did it&#8217; or &#8216;No, she she did n&#8217;t do it.&#8217;<\/p>\n<figure class=\"caas-figure\">\n<div style=\"\">\n<div>\n<div class=\"caas-img-container caas-img-loader noheight\"><img class=\"caas-img caas-lazy has-preview\" alt=\"NEW YORK, NEW YORK - OCTOBER 03: (LR) Todd Field, Nina Hoss and Cate Blanchett attend the \" src=\"https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/ny\/api\/res\/1.2\/IBJkrd5sWDnnSmTBd5vazA--\/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MA--\/https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/os\/creatr-uploaded-images\/2022-10\/7e2345b0-44df-11ed-b7dd-dec2a1930344\"\/><noscript><img alt=\"NEW YORK, NEW YORK - OCTOBER 03: (LR) Todd Field, Nina Hoss and Cate Blanchett attend the \" src=\"https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/ny\/api\/res\/1.2\/IBJkrd5sWDnnSmTBd5vazA--\/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MA--\/https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/os\/creatr-uploaded-images\/2022-10\/7e2345b0-44df-11ed-b7dd-dec2a1930344\" class=\"caas-img\"\/><\/noscript><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><figcaption class=\"caption-collapse\">Todd Field, Nina Hoss and Blanchett attend the New York Film Festival premiere of <em>tar<\/em>.  (Photo: Dimitrios Kambouris\/Getty Images for FLC)<\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<p>Because the movie plays out almost completely from Lydia&#8217;s point of view, she naturally doesn&#8217;t believe she&#8217;s done anything wrong.  Instead, as the person in power, she seems to subscribe to a school of thought suggested by each former teacher, who remarks that in the current climate: &#8220;To be accused is to be guilty.&#8221;  Asked about the larger importance of that piece of dialogue, Blanchett notes that it ties into the movie&#8217;s larger exploration of power.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;We live in a world where &#8216;cancel culture&#8217; is on everyone&#8217;s tongue,&#8221; she says.  &#8220;So when you make a movie now, that&#8217;s part of the texture of any movie that&#8217;s made. I think it&#8217;s much more a meditation on power itself and who is culpable in maintaining those systems of power and what happens to the human beings when they come very close to the flame of power and how complicated that is.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Of course, it&#8217;s set in the classical music world, and she is a musician extraordinaire, but she could equally have been an architect or the CEO of a major banking corporation,&#8221; Blanchett continues.  &#8220;The fact that she&#8217;s female allows us to have much more nuanced conversations around the nature of power and the corrupting nature of power. She&#8217;s somebody who has struggled to get where she is, who is incredibly gifted and is now running an institution as much as she is being an artist within that institution. That is a really complicated place to be, and that&#8217;s what&#8217;s great about the movie \u2014 because it doesn&#8217;t provide any easy answers.&#8221;<\/p>\n<figure class=\"caas-figure\">\n<div style=\"\">\n<div>\n<div class=\"caas-img-container caas-img-loader noheight\"><img class=\"caas-img caas-lazy has-preview\" alt=\"Blanchett in a scene from the new drama T&#xe1;r (Photo: Focus Features \/ Courtesy Everett Collection)\" src=\"https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/ny\/api\/res\/1.2\/sftGrE5zq076HWrCyuShVA--\/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MA--\/https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/os\/creatr-uploaded-images\/2022-10\/4b154920-44bc-11ed-bbfd-eb80fc343075\"\/><noscript><img alt=\"Blanchett in a scene from the new drama T&#xe1;r (Photo: Focus Features \/ Courtesy Everett Collection)\" src=\"https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/ny\/api\/res\/1.2\/sftGrE5zq076HWrCyuShVA--\/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MA--\/https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/os\/creatr-uploaded-images\/2022-10\/4b154920-44bc-11ed-bbfd-eb80fc343075\" class=\"caas-img\"\/><\/noscript><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><figcaption class=\"caption-collapse\">Blanchett in a scene from the new drama <em>tar<\/em>.  (Photo: Focus Features \/ Courtesy Everett Collection)<\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<p>Field&#8217;s script pointedly references the recent cases of two real-life classical music superstars \u2014 former Metropolitan Opera music director James Levine and opera singer Pl\u00e1cido Domingo \u2014 both whom lost prominent positions following multiple sexual harassment.  Kauer, a professional cellist who is making her acting debut in <em>tar<\/em>says that it&#8217;s important to see powerful people in her industry held accountable for their actions.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The Incorporated Society of Musicians just released a study in which they said that sexual harassment, bullying and racism is at an all-time worst in the classical music industry,&#8221; Kauer says.  &#8220;People feel like they can&#8217;t speak up, especially after the pandemic, because they feel like they&#8217;ll face repercussions. I really think that the release of this movie is perfect timing. People are finally starting to talk about these things and until we fix them, loads of people are going to be vulnerable to these horrific conditions.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><em>tar <\/em>also includes a brief cameo by another celebrity whose career has been impacted by high-profile accusations.  Early on in the movie, we hear a clip from a radio interview between Lydia and Alec Baldwin, who hosts his own NPR interview show, <em>Here&#8217;s the Thing<\/em>.  Last year, Baldwin was on the set of the movie <em>rust<\/em> when cinematographer Halyna Hutchins was killed by a live round fired from Baldwin&#8217;s prop gun.  The actor was at the center of the ensuing investigation, and faces possible criminal charges.  He has since reached a settlement with Hutchins&#8217;s family that will allow filming on <em>rust<\/em> to continue.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Alec Baldwin has a show called <em>Here&#8217;s the Thing<\/em>which is a fine show with wonderful conversations and is something that I&#8217;ve listened to for a very, very long time,&#8221; Field says when asked if he considered removing Baldwin&#8217;s cameo from the movie in light of the <em>rust <\/em>you are in.  &#8220;That conversation between Alec and Lydia T\u00e1r<em> <\/em>was in the script a long time ago, and I was thrilled when he agreed to do it.  And I&#8217;m thrilled that he&#8217;s in the movie.&#8221;<\/p>\n<figure class=\"caas-figure\">\n<div style=\"\">\n<div>\n<div class=\"caas-img-container caas-img-loader noheight\"><img class=\"caas-img caas-lazy has-preview\" alt=\"Lydia (Blanchett) leads her orchestra while her wife, Sharon (Nina Hoss) looks on in Tar.  (Photo: &#xa9;Focus Features\/Courtesy Everett Collection)\" src=\"https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/ny\/api\/res\/1.2\/B5abT0ojszrnCK7zvSFilw--\/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MA--\/https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/os\/creatr-uploaded-images\/2022-10\/5cc49b40-44ed-11ed-bbd3-3455860eba87\"\/><noscript><img alt=\"Lydia (Blanchett) leads her orchestra while her wife, Sharon (Nina Hoss) looks on in Tar.  (Photo: &#xa9;Focus Features\/Courtesy Everett Collection)\" src=\"https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/ny\/api\/res\/1.2\/B5abT0ojszrnCK7zvSFilw--\/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MA--\/https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/os\/creatr-uploaded-images\/2022-10\/5cc49b40-44ed-11ed-bbd3-3455860eba87\" class=\"caas-img\"\/><\/noscript><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><figcaption class=\"caption-collapse\">Lydia (Blanchett) leads her orchestra while her wife, Sharon (Nina Hoss), looks on in <em>tar<\/em>.  (Photo: \u00a9Focus Features\/Courtesy Everett Collection)<\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<p>Because it avoids easy answers about cancel culture and what should happen to powerful people accused of wrongdoing, Blanchett knows that audiences will come out of <em>tar <\/em>eager to discuss the movie and even<em> more<\/em> eager to see it a second time.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;We&#8217;ve heard that people want go back and see the movie again, because there&#8217;s so much to talk about,&#8221; she says.  &#8220;That&#8217;s really rare, and that&#8217;s why you need to see it in the cinema, because the questions it asks are epic. It&#8217;s not just a small question about cancel culture. It&#8217;s much more kind of Greek than that.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>As for whether she&#8217;s been able to let go of Lydia now that the film is out in the world, Blanchett admits that she still feels &#8220;changed&#8221; by the experience.  &#8220;But I also feel changed by the last three years of human history in a very strong way,&#8221; she adds.  &#8220;We think about Black Lives Matter and #MeToo, and already those have become pejorative terms when we haven&#8217;t even processed what that change means. This movie, to me, feels part of that same churn. I feel that there&#8217;s still questions in there that I haven&#8217;t even begun to grapple with.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 <em>Video produced by Kyle Moss and edited by Jason Fitzpatrick <\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong><em>tar <\/em><\/strong><strong>premieres Friday, Oct.  7 in theaters <\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>When the lights come up on tar, don&#8217;t be surprised if you leave the theater thinking that you&#8217;ve been watching a documentary rather than a fictional feature. Todd Field&#8217;s expansive, absorbing new drama \u2014 which opens in theaters on Oct. 7 after premiering at the Venice and New York film festivals \u2014 immerses viewers so &hellip;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"> <a class=\"\" href=\"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/cate-blanchett-explains-how-oscar-hopeful-tar-addresses-cancel-culture\/\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Cate Blanchett explains how Oscar hopeful &#8216;T\u00e1r&#8217; addresses cancel culture<\/span> Read More &raquo;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":64813,"url":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/cate-blanchett-cuts-a-stylish-figure-in-an-oversized-brown-blazer-during-venice-film-festival\/","url_meta":{"origin":90779,"position":0},"title":"Cate Blanchett cuts a stylish figure in an oversized brown blazer during Venice Film Festival","date":"September 3, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Cate Blanchett cuts a stylish figure in an oversized brown blazer and leather trousers as she promotes her latest film T\u00e1r during Venice Film FestivalBy Codie Bullen For Mailonline Published: 06:08PM EDT, 2 September 2022 | updated: 07:23PM EDT, 2 September 2022 Cate Blanchett cut a stylish figure on Friday\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Entertainment&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"Chic: Cate Blanchett cut a stylish figure on Friday as she head out in Venice during the 79th International Film Festival","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2022\/09\/02\/10\/61985727-11172787-image-a-55_1662112320506.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":56730,"url":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/cate-blanchett-is-tar-in-the-teaser-for-tar\/","url_meta":{"origin":90779,"position":1},"title":"Cate Blanchett is T\u00c1R in the teaser for T\u00c1R","date":"August 26, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Cate Blanchettphoto: Focus FeaturesCate Blanchett can do it all. She she's been an elfold a queen and of course a Carol. And yet, in the trailer for TARthe latest movie from Todd Field, the director of Little ChildrenBlanchett is giving off a whole new energy. Lydia T\u00e1r, per the film's\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Entertainment&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":65729,"url":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/cate-blanchett-dons-a-black-jacket-with-dazzling-silver-studs-at-the-telluride-film-festival\/","url_meta":{"origin":90779,"position":2},"title":"Cate Blanchett dons a black jacket with dazzling silver studs at the Telluride Film Festival","date":"September 4, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Cate Blanchett posed for photographers after receiving the silver medallion at the Telluride Film Festival on Saturday in Telluride, Colorado.The actress, 53, cut a chic figure in a black jacket featuring dazzling silver studs, which she combined with a pair of tight leather trousers.Elevating her height with coordinating heeled boots,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Entertainment&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"Gorgeous: Cate Blanchett posed for photographers after receiving the silver medallion at the Telluride Film Festival on Saturday in Telluride, Colorado","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2022\/09\/04\/09\/62039927-0-image-a-31_1662280693253.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":63596,"url":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/cate-blanchetts-tar-stuns-venice-with-standing-ovation-and-huge-oscar-buzz\/","url_meta":{"origin":90779,"position":3},"title":"Cate Blanchett&#8217;s &#8216;T\u00e1r&#8217; Stuns Venice With Standing Ovation and Huge Oscar Buzz","date":"September 2, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"The 79th Venice Film Festival officially kicked off the fall Oscar race on Thursday afternoon with Todd Field's \u201cT\u00e1r,\u201d a drama starring Cate Blanchett as a famous composer embroiled in a public scandal. The film was showered with an ecstatic six-minute standing ovation as the audience inside the Sala Grande\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Entertainment&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":39063,"url":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/2023-oscars-best-actress-predictions\/","url_meta":{"origin":90779,"position":4},"title":"2023 Oscars: Best Actress Predictions","date":"August 8, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Awards perennials Frances McDormand, Jessica Chastain, and Regina King are back in the Oscar race. We will update these predictions throughout awards season, so keep checking IndieWire for all our 2023 Oscar picks. Nominations voting is from January 12 to January 17, 2023, with official Oscar nominations announced on January\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Entertainment&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"\"The Woman King\"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.indiewire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/The-Woman-King.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":93441,"url":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/hulus-devil-in-the-white-city-also-loses-director-todd-field\/","url_meta":{"origin":90779,"position":5},"title":"Hulu&#8217;s Devil In The White City also loses director Todd Field","date":"October 11, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Todd Fieldphoto: Theo Wargo\/Getty Images for FLCThings aren't going especially well in 1890s Chicago, and not just because of serial killer HH Holmes and his funky Murder Castle: Just a few days after Losing Star Keanu ReevesHulu's adaptation of Erik Larson's best-selling book The Devil In The White City special\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Entertainment&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/ny\/api\/res\/1.2\/mLlKI0d1pN1YGmFrk0gZUA--\/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTEyMDA7aD02NzU-\/https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/os\/creatr-uploaded-images\/2022-10\/2a5a1300-44bc-11ed-a57a-68d28a9007b5","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90779"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=90779"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90779\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=90779"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=90779"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=90779"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}