罢á谤 is director Todd Field's third feature-length film — his first in 16 years. That's a long time between realized projects, but if we have to wait another 16 years for a film at 罢á谤's level, I'm more than happy to settle in for the long haul. That's because 罢á谤 is, simply put, a masterwork on all fronts.
Field's direction guides us superbly into the world of lauded conductor Lydia 罢á谤 (Cate Blanchett), in which accomplished musicians, wealthy music lovers, and doting admirers clamor for her attention. 罢á谤 presides over it all with an air of crafted ease. In one of the film's first scenes, she discusses her myriad accomplishments with the New Yorker's Adam Gopnik, touching on her mentor Leonard Bernstein, the works of Gustav Mahler, and the temporality of conducting. Her responses are measured, casual, and seemingly spontaneous. Yet there's a sense of deliberation, of practice. Just before this, we watch as a high-end tailor painstakingly crafts a suit for 罢á谤. It's image curation in real time.
Image is key to 罢á谤, both the movie and the character. As a conductor, 罢á谤 has achieved an exceptional level of fame and acclaim. She is the conductor for the Berlin Philharmonic, has earned EGOT status, and is releasing a book titled 罢á谤 on 罢á谤. She's also about to embark on the most important recording of her life: a live performance of Mahler's Symphony No. 5.
Throughout, 罢á谤 appears to be in total control of her process. She dismisses coworkers she disagrees with, chooses soloists based on her own whims, and selects the concept and pose for her upcoming album cover — even though doing any of this means upsetting those she has worked with for years. The consequences of these actions, as well as some chilling accusations, threaten to derail everything 罢á谤 has worked for.
罢á谤 is a character study of the highest caliber.
Field and Blanchett dissect 罢á谤 bit by bit as these accusations come to light. Our clues to her wrongdoings start small, yet ominous: a shot of a redheaded young woman surveying 罢á谤 while she's in New York, then hints of frightening e-mails. As the picture becomes clearer, Field moves further into the realm of the surreal. Abstract dreams plague 罢á谤, as do strange occurrences at her home in Berlin. In what feels like a musical spin on Edgar Allan Poe's The Tell-Tale Heart, 罢á谤 hears a metronome ticking away in her office, with no one having set it off.
With moments like these, Field moves this psychological drama into the realm of horror, with a scene involving disembodied screams helping with the genre-melding. Like its protagonist, 罢á谤 is many things all at once: a psychological drama, a foray into horror, a (very) dry comedy, and a relationship drama.
Scenes oscillate between the humorous and the horrifying, but as viewers, you never lose your sense of awe at the level of craft on display. Take a scene in which 罢á谤 teaches a conducting class at Juilliard. Shot in what appears to be one long take, the sequence examines 罢á谤 as she faces off with Max (Zethphan Smith-Gneist), a pangender and BIPOC student who feels uncomfortable conducting the music of old, white composers like Bach. 罢á谤 hounds Max on questions of identity and art. Should she, a self-described "U-Haul lesbian," stop engaging with material by those who would question her identity? No, she argues: "If you want to dance the mask, you must service the composer." Sublimation of the identity is key.
罢á谤's approach to speaking with Max begins in a somewhat friendly fashion, yet quickly veers toward condescension. Field tracks Blanchett's every move as she prowls around the large, mostly empty classroom, turning a seminar into a pulse-pounding confrontation between two people with a wildly skewed power dynamic. The scene wrings uncomfortable laughs and winces from the viewer and sets up the dichotomy of 罢á谤: She is at once a brilliant artist and a menacing authority figure. How do you reconcile the two? As with the case of composers such as Bach, is it possible to separate the art from the artist? Or must we serve the artist at risk of our own values and identities? 罢á谤 thrives on these questions, its steely color palette of cool blues and neutral tones visually evoking the moral gray area in which 罢á谤 sees herself acting.
Cate Blanchett owns every second of 罢á谤.
Taking a page from 罢á谤's book to think about sublimating identity and obliterating the self in service of art, we need look no further than Blanchett's own brilliant performance. She wholly embodies both the near-mythic figure of 罢á谤 and the uglier truths at the core of the legend. Her work is precise, raw, and impossibly magnetic.
In 罢á谤's New Yorker talk, she delves into how the conductor dictates the time of a piece. "You cannot start without me. I start the clock," she says. "However, unlike a clock, sometimes my second-hand stops, which means time stops." The same could be said of Blanchett's role: Her every move modulates the rhythm of the film. When she retreats into herself, time slows. When she bursts into fits of rage or fear, the movie itself lets loose all the coiled tension it's been building. To watch Blanchett as 罢á谤 is to be mesmerized.
The supporting cast of 罢á谤 is also splendid, in particular, Nina Hoss as 罢á谤's wife, Sharon, and Noémie Merlant as 罢á谤's assistant, Francesca. Both excel as women who are clearly devoted to 罢á谤 yet are forced to reckon with that relationship as the film nears its breaking point. 罢á谤 may be the film's primary focus, but Sharon and Francesca are key players whose actions — and performances — shape 罢á谤 in sometimes subtle, sometimes earth-shattering ways.
Blanchett, Field, and 罢á谤's entire cast and crew have created a titan of a movie. It's thorny, it's haunting, and even though it's two and a half hours long, every single moment is a stunningly crafted necessity. 罢á谤 is the work of maestros across the board, delivering not only one of the best performances of the year, but also perhaps the best film of the year as well.
罢á谤 was reviewed out of the 60th New York Film Festival; it opens in theaters Oct. 7.
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