New Delhi

It is now a widely known fact that two-time Oscar-winning actress Cate Blanchett's performance in Tár is one of the finest that one has seen in 2022. Blanchett plays sociopath and music conductor extraordinaire Lydia Tar whose life falls apart as she begins to lose her grip on power and reality. Directed and produced by Todd Field, Tár has been a favourite this awards season and has clenched six nominations at the 95th Academy Awards including the Best Picture nod and Best Actress nomination for Blanchett. 

The film has been a critics' favourite in 2022 and opened to rave reviews at the Venice Film Festival in September. Tár was selected Best Film of the Year by the New York Film Critics Circle, Los Angeles Film Critics Association, London Film Critics Circle, and the National Society of Film Critics, becoming only the fourth film in history named as such from the world's top critics' groups. It was named the year's best film by more critics than any other film released in 2022 which makes it perhaps the top contender for the Best Picture Oscar next week. 

While Blanchett's work has been praised all across, Tár is also special because of the way it has been presented by director Todd Field who has been nominated in the Best Director category. Here's looking at why Tár deserved the Oscar in all the categories it has been nominated in. 

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Six Oscar nominations for Tár

While most have placed their bets on Cate Blanchett winning the Best Actress Oscar, the film also holds strong chances in Best Picture and Best Director categories. Tár has also been nominated in Original screenplay, cinematography and editing categories. Considering how the film has won critical acclaim the whole from critics, it does hold a strong chance of winning in writing and direction. Many have stated that filmmaker Todd Field has created a masterpiece with a detailed haunting plot which was enhanced manifold by Blanchett's performance. 

Lifting cloud on dark days of cinema 

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When veteran filmmaker Martin Scorsese presented Tár the Best Feature award at the 2023 New York Film Critics Circle Awards, he stated that the film lifted the clouds on the “dark days” that cinema is currently facing. That's in a year, when Hollywood after two slow years thanks to the pandemic, witnessed commercial success as well as critically acclaimed films in the same year. 

“The clouds lifted when I experienced Todd’s film, Tár. What you’ve done, Todd –– is that the very fabric of the movie you created doesn’t allow this. All the aspects of cinema and the film that you’ve used, attest to this. The shift in locations for example, the shift in locations alone do what cinema does best, which is to reduce space and time to what they are, which is nothing," Scorsese. 

Nine-year Oscar prophecy to come true for Blanchett?

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Cate Blanchett, who has won the Oscar twice before is one of the strongest contenders to win the Best Actress Oscar this year. There is an Oscar prophecy that states that Blanchett picks up an Oscar every nine years. She had won first won the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for Aviator in 2004 and then the Best Actress award for Blue Jasmine in 2013. Blanchett faces competition from Michael Yeoh in this category, whose performance in Everything Everywhere All At Once has been raved far and wide in this award season. 

From playing the regal Elizabeth I to the menacing Hela, Blanchett is one of the most revered performers of her generation. Over the years, Blanchett has earned 8 Oscar nominations and is known to be a director's actor where makers always manage to bring the best out of her. 

Her role in Tár is a complex one. She plays Lydia Tar, a lesbian music conductor who slowly starts losing grip of reality even as her personal life starts falling apart and her marriage is on the brink of a breakup.