Vitriolic criticism from famous conductor Marin Alsop about the film Tar has provoked a reaction from the film’s star, Cate Blanchett.
Speaking to BBC Radio 4 on Thursday, Blanchett snapped back at Alsop, who told The Sunday Times earlier this week that Tár, a story about a world-renowned conductor who faces allegations of sexual misconduct involving female victims, is “anti-woman.”
“I was offended: I was offended as a woman, I was offended as a conductor, I was offended as a lesbian,” Alsop told the British media outlet. “To have an opportunity to portray a woman in that role and to make her an abuser — for me that was heartbreaking.”
Alsop is mentioned in the film, and The Sunday Times has noted she bears some similarities to Blanchett’s character.
Blanchett said of the film, “It’s a meditation on power, and power is genderless.” She said that the film is designed to spark conversations, and that her character is “entirely fictitious.”
“I looked at so many different conductors, but I also looked at novelists and visual artists and musicians of all stripes,” Blanchett said. “It’s a very nonliteral film.”
Blanchett said a man couldn’t have captured the nuance of the “corrupting nature” of power.
“I think that power is a corrupting force no matter what one’s gender is. I think it affects all of us,” she said.
Blanchett has captured a Golden Globe for her acting in Tar, which is a strong Oscars contender.
