Cate Blanchett has heard the line before. 鈥淚 wrote this part for you" is a director-actor pickup line, she said. It is not usually to be believed.
But what she didn鈥檛 know when Todd Field sent her his script for about an extraordinary conductor and composer at the height of her career whose status begins to crumble amid misconduct allegations, was that he wouldn鈥檛 have done it without her. The production company and distributor Focus Features didn鈥檛 know this either. And he was dragging his feet a bit in sending it off to Blanchett. Not only would it be his first film in over 15 years, but it was the first wholly original screenplay he鈥檇 written since 1995. It was, he said, a scary moment.
Blanchett laughs about it now. Of course she was going to say yes. She was rapt by Field, the actor, writer and director who she鈥檇 met years earlier about a project he was working on with Joan Didion that never came to be, and by the complex story of 鈥淭谩r鈥� and the challenge of it. In the process of preparing for 鈥淭谩r,鈥� she鈥檇 learn to play piano, to speak German and conduct an orchestra, all of which she does really does in the film.
鈥淚 am still processing the experience, not only because it spoke to a lot of things that I had been thinking about, but I feel so expanded by having been in Todd鈥檚 orbit,鈥� Blanchett said in an interview with Field earlier this week. 鈥淚t was a very, very fluid, dangerous, alive process making the film.鈥�
鈥淭谩r,鈥� which is currently playing in limited release and expands nationwide on Oct. 28, was born out of a desire to scratch at questions about power that Field had thinking about for the past few years 鈥� the abuses of power, the structures of power and why those pyramids exist in the first place. And what better place to set that than the world of classical music?
鈥淲hat kind of conversation is allowable to have? Is there room for rhetoric? Is there room for a conversation where we can step into each other鈥檚 shoes and find common ground?鈥� Field said. 鈥淭hose are really high-flown questions to ask. And I鈥檓 not going to pretend that this film asks all of those questions and definitely doesn鈥檛 answer any of them. But that was the essence of the idea.鈥�
In the wake of #MeToo, he knew that to have a more nuanced conversation his protagonist needed to be someone in a position that鈥檚 unexpected. It needed to be more of fairy tale. Thus, Blanchett鈥檚 Lydia T谩r wouldn鈥檛 be the CEO of a corporation or the head of an architectural firm, but the first female chief conductor of a major German orchestra, a position a woman has never actually occupied. She is a genius who we meet at high-profile moment on the eve of the release of her memoir and as the orchestra prepares to play Mahler鈥檚 Fifth Symphony.
The film lets us into Lydia鈥檚 rarefied, first-class world and invites us to meet and ponder those around her, from her partner Sharon (Nina Hoss), the lead violinist in the orchestra, to her assistant Francesca (No茅mie Merlant) and wonder about their own complicities.
鈥淚 really hope that people are not put off by thinking this is an elitist film or an elitist topic. You don鈥檛 at all have to be a connoisseur. It's about so many other things,鈥� Hoss said. 鈥淚t makes you think, hopefully, about who are the people supporting people in power positions to do certain things and do you sometimes do that because you actually profit from it. It鈥檚 also about being creative: Does leading such an institution as this big orchestra hinder you in doing what you actually want to do?"
Merlant, in her first English-language role, is still asking herself questions about Francesca, who wants to be a conductor like T谩r but is at the moment is mainly fetching coffee, booking flights, managing schedules and other administrative tasks under the guise of mentorship. And she has to consider her role in the T谩r machine as the allegations intensify.
鈥淪he would do anything for her, up to a certain point,鈥� Merlant said. 鈥淭hat I found very interesting.鈥�
The egos stayed in front of the camera, though. Behind the scenes of 鈥淭谩r," she said, Field and Blanchett fostered an atmosphere of respect and openness.
鈥淪ometimes we have this sensation that in order to create an amazing piece of art, you have to struggle," Merlant. "But it is possible to do great things in a nice environment."
The production took pains to make the world of 鈥淭谩r鈥� to feel authentic, not like a 鈥渢oy town鈥� version of the classical music world. They enlisted the help of the Dresden Philharmonic, casting some of its members in speaking roles like Dorothea Plans Casal and Fabian Dirr, and looking to Concertmaster Wolfgang Hentrich for his expertise. , the Oscar-winning Icelandic composer, crafted the score. Hoss played the violin too. That Blanchett would conduct, Field said, was just a given.
鈥淚 didn鈥檛 even have to ask her,鈥� Field said. 鈥淚f I said, okay, this is about somebody that builds a skyscraper, I knew that she was going to build the skyscraper with no question that she would become Howard Roark.鈥�
Still, it was a tense moment the first time Blanchett took the podium at the Dresden Hall to conduct a rehearsal scene. Then, Field said, someone 鈥渃lammed.鈥� Everyone laughed and the ice was broken.
It was a powerful moment when it came together, though. Hoss, who was sitting in the orchestra when Blanchett raised her arm for the first time and everyone started playing together, said that 鈥渁ll of us were on the verge of tears." Merlant too would often sit and watch her co-star in awe.
They cast a first-time actor in the key role of Olga, a talented Russian cellist who T谩r takes an interest in. Sophie Kauer, who is currently studying classical cello performance at the Norwegian Academy of Music in Oslo, beat out hundreds of cellists for the part.
鈥淭he first time I met Cate it was actually a conducting rehearsal, so I had to play for her,鈥� Kauer said. 鈥淭hat was just mildly terrifying. But, you know, you got to do what you got to do. I think the thing about musicians is we鈥檙e very workman like we just always get the job done.鈥�
This summer, Blanchett, Gu冒nad贸ttir, Kauer, and Field even met up again at Abbey Road Studios to record a T谩r concept album that will be available to the public.
But Field鈥檚 biggest hope is that 鈥淭谩r鈥� is a film that audiences seek out in theaters. It was made as an aural and visual experience for the big screen.
鈥淚t鈥檚 not something to sit at home and watch,鈥� Field said.
The reception for 鈥淭谩r鈥� has been roundly rapturous since its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival, where Blanchett was awarded the top acting prize 鈥� which could be the first of many for the already decorated actor. But Field bristles at the mention of awards.
鈥淪incerely that鈥檚 not why the two of us made this film. We want people to go in and we want them to come out and hopefully be talking to each other in a lively manner in the parking lot on the way to their cars or to the subway or wherever they鈥檙e off to, you know?鈥� Field said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a film that begs a conversation.鈥�
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Follow AP Film Writer Lindsey Bahr on Twitter: www.twitter.com/ldbahr.
Lindsey Bahr, The Associated Press
