In her first queer role since Carol, Cate Blanchett stars as Lydia Tár, a renowned, egomaniacal, and wildly charismatic conductor whose sexual predations finally ruin her. It’s the first film from director Todd Field (Little Children) in 16 years, one he says has long been in the works and that he would not have made without Blanchett. Tár is poised to nab scads of nominations, if not awards this year. But in a year of increased attacks on LGBTQ+ people, from legislation to protests at drag queen story hours, is there room for a complicated queer villain, even if she’s a towering genius playing in the arena that men built and have thrived in for centuries?
One of s early scenes features Lydia in a highfalutin chat onstage with ’s Adam Gopnik about her storied rise. The far-flung topics include her role as one of classical music’s few women conductors (although she prefers her gender be left out of the discussion), her EGOT status, her mentor Leonard Bernstein, her immersive work with the Shipibo Conibo people of Peru, and the meaning
