The 79th Venice Film Festival officially kicked off the fall Oscar race on Thursday afternoon with Todd Field’s “Tár,” a drama starring Cate Blanchett as a famous composer embroiled in a public scandal. The film was showered with an ecstatic six-minute standing ovation as the crowds at the Sala Grande Theatre kept chanting “Bravo!“ even surprising Blanchett at times.
As Venice chief Alberto Barbera took her hand, Blanchett bowed — but the clapping went on. When the applause finally ended, a misty-eyed Cate Blanchett turned to someone on her team and said: “Let’s get a drink.”
Surely, Blanchett’s work in “Tár” will be one of the most toasted performances of Oscar season. The rave reviews for the film all but guarantee the actor, who has two Academy Awards acting wins, will land her eight Oscar acting nomination this winter.
The buzz for “Tar” was strong even before it premiered. The crowds on the Lido gathered early for a glimpse of “Cate! Cate! Cate!” as they called her, holding up signs and even a movie poster from “Carol.”
The “Tár” supporting cast includes Nina Hoss, Noémie Merlant, Mark Strong, Julian Glover, Allan Corduner, Sophie Kauer and Sylvia Flote. Hildur Guðnadóttir, the Icelandic composer whose 2020 original score for “Joker” won the Oscar, worked on the film’s original compositions.
From Variety US