Cate Blanchett hits Sydney for preview of Oscar-tipped film Tár

Cate Blanchett is back in town to promote her critically-adored film Tár before Oscars season— but don’t ask her to explain it. Here’s why.

Cate Blanchett is asking Aussie audiences to go into her new film with as little information as possible, but to be ready for a challenge. Picture: David Swift/The Daily Telegraph

Cate Blanchett made a rare appearance on home soil on Sunday, to introduce a sold-out preview screening of the movie Tár at Hayden Orpheum Picture Palace in Cremorne.

Critics have already dubbed the three-hour-long drama one of the year’s best films and Blanchett’s most impressive performances, although Aussies will have to wait three months longer than US audiences to actually see it.

“I personally haven’t processed the experience of making this film and I couldn’t possibly tell what it’s ‘about’. Nor would I want to,” Blanchett told the Sydney audience.

Cate Blanchett poses at a special screening for Tár at Cremorne Orpheum on November 13, 2022 in Sydney, Australia. Picture: David Swift

“It’s a film that has a conductor at its centre, but it’s not about the classical music world. You don’t need to know any terminology at all, just allow it to wash over you. Don’t try and make sense of it, I didn’t. Still can’t,” she joked.

Blanchett stars as Lydia Tár, the groundbreaking conductor of a major German orchestra at the height of her career. Over the ensuing weeks her life begins to unravel, in what critics have called a standout #MeToo movie, and the best film on cancel culture yet.

She also called working with the Dresden Philharmonic Orchestra “a life changing experience.”

The film is the first director Todd Field has made in 16 years.

Tár premieres in Australia on January 26 — the day after the 2023 Oscar nominations are announced in the US. Picture: Hanna Lassen

“Something Todd said to me, which I still think about, it’s a meditation on power in a lot of ways,” Blanchett, 53, continued.

“He said that no one’s innocent. No one’s entirely guilty, and absolutes are nonsense unless it is a sporting event. So Australia, it’s not the footy.”

VIPs including Claudia Karvan, Marta Dusseldorp, Tim Minchin, and Gretel Packer flocked to the theatre for the first look at the Oscar-tipped film, which premieres in Australia on January 26 — the day after the 2023 Oscar nominations are announced in the US.

Simone Young and Cate Blanchett in Sydney. Picture: Hanna Lassen

Blanchett dressed in a striking tailored red suit, paired with a white blouse and stilettos.

“It’s very difficult to find spaces where you can have nuanced discussions about the big questions that we need to ask ourselves as a species,” she said.

“And this film, without wanting to be grand about it, asks a few of them.”