Todd Field made a new movie sixteen years after “Little Children” and twenty-one after “In the Bedroom” were released. Both films landed Field an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Screenplay, while “In the Bedroom” was also nominated for Best Picture. His latest, “TÁR” sees Field collaborate with Cate Blanchett for the first time. In a recent interview with The Film Comment Podcast, Blanchett herself described the process of working with Field as fantastic:
“I just worked with Todd Field, which was fantastic; he’s such a fantastic collaborator. [We worked] in Berlin. I play a conductor of a celebrated German orchestra, and my name is Lydia Tar. It’s about a sort of fall from grace, a come to Jesus moment and about the creative process, and about power, so it’s really interesting.”
Details on the film are sparse, but footage of it premiered at this year’s CinemaCon. One SlashFilm article, which saw the footage presented at CinemaCon, described it as being “brief, albeit striking” and said Blanchett’s performance “smokes the competition”: “Lydia Tár may not be a real person, but whomever this woman is that Blanchett is bringing to life, seems like an absolute badass.”
From a casting notice, the official plot synopsis reads, “The intellectual drama tells the story of world-renowned musician Lydia Tár (Blanchett), who is just days away from recording the symphony that will take her to the very heights of her already formidable career. Lydia Tár’s remarkably bright and charming six-year-old adopted daughter Petra has a key role to play here. And when elements seem to conspire against Lydia, the young girl is an important emotional support for her struggling mother.”
Blanchett is accompanied by a star-studded supporting cast comprised of Nina Hoss, Noémie Merlant, Mark Strong, Sophie Kauer, Julian Glover, and Allan Corduner. Hildur Guðnadóttir, who recently won an Academy Award for her work in “Joker,” will be composing the score.
Written and directed by Field, “TÁR” will be distributed by Focus Features and will release exclusively in theatres on October 7.
