It’s a fairy tale, as Cate Blanchett says in Venice: In “Tàr” she plays a chief conductor. Nina Hoss embodies her partner.
On screen, Cate Blanchett and Nina Hoss play a pair of troubled lovers. In real life, however, the two get along well, as the actresses in Venice said.
Her film “Tàr” premiered there on Thursday, a drama about a chief conductor (Blanchett) whose life spirals out of control.
There are similarities between Hoss and Blanchett
Earlier in the afternoon, the two movie stars talked about their collaboration and similarities. “I stalked Nina for about ten years,” joked Blanchett (53), then joked in Hoss’s direction: “You’re blushing.” The 47-year-old Hoss added: They had seen each other in the theater before, they were mutual friends, they had also played the same role in different productions and they might work with the same theater director. “In a way, we found some similarities.”
And finally, she brought director Todd Field together for his new film. In it, Blanchett plays Lydia Tàr, who has achieved pretty much everything as chief conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic. She wants to crown her career with a book publication and the recording of Gustav Mahler’s 5th symphony. But in the background there are problems with a former acquaintance, which ultimately lead to allegations of abuse against Lydia and a catastrophe.
Blanchett plays this uncompromising woman with rigorous force. Her friend Sharon (Hoss) suffers from Lydia’s toughness and also her attraction to different women.
Art must not be a means of education
Abuse of power in the cultural world and issues of the LGBTIQ community: “Tàr” addresses things that are currently being discussed more frequently. But Blanchett says he has no interest in using art for political purposes. “I don’t think artistic practice is an educational tool,” she said. “I’m not interested in agitprop.”
What happens to a film once it’s out is another matter, Blanchett said. “Once the thing is made, it can be politicized, disseminated, debated, people can be disgusted, hurt or inspired by it. But that’s out of our control.”
It was only at press conferences about the film that she noticed that women are at the center of the film, said the Australian actress. But that was not the reason why she was interested in it – but because it felt “urgent and indispensable”.
At the same time, the story is a fairy tale, she said. “To this day there is no chief conductor in the great, venerable German orchestra.” The structures in the world of classical music are still very patriarchal in this regard. (dpa)