Cate Blanchett has responded to criticism from renowned conductor Marin Alsop, who branded her new film Tár 'offensive'. Speaking at the London premiere, Blanchett addressed the controversy, noting the film's intention to spark conversation about power and its corrupting nature.
Alsop, 66, told the Sunday Times she was 'offended' by the portrayal of a female conductor as an abuser. 'To have an opportunity to portray a woman in that role and to make her an abuser? For me that was heartbreaking,' she said, calling the depiction 'antiwomen'.
Blanchett, however, argued the film is a meditation on power rather than gender. 'It's a very non-literal film,' she told the BBC's Today programme. 'What Todd Field and I wanted to do was to create a really lively conversation. There's no right or wrong responses to works of art.'
The Oscar-winner stressed that the character Lydia Tár is entirely fictitious. 'I looked at many different conductors, but also novelists and visual artists. It's a meditation on power and the corrupting nature of power, and that doesn't necessarily happen only in cultural circles,' she said, adding that a male lead would have made the nuance difficult to achieve.
The film, which premiered in London on Wednesday, follows renowned musician Lydia Tár as she prepares for a career-defining symphony. Blanchett skipped the Golden Globes to attend the UK premiere, wearing a metallic lilac gown.
