Australian actress Cate Blanchett launched into an angry rant about the scrutiny she faces as a working mother during a press conference at the Cannes Film Festival in France.

The Blue Jasmine star, who has three sons, vented her frustration during a junket for How To Train Your Dragon 2 at the famous movie event on Friday (16May14).

Blanchett insisted women are unfairly judged, while men are rarely questioned about parenting, saying, "When anyone plays a mother on film, there is a whole raft of judgement in that a mother is a particular archetype or that every mother is the same... that's complete rubbish.

"It's certainly never a question that's asked of men. The question is only ever directed towards women. 'How do you balance? How do you have it all?'

"I still don't understand in 2014 why that is the case. I'm not just talking about the industry in which we work, it's every industry... the things that are being said about women, not just in African countries but in the English-speaking world, I think are absolutely appalling and sometimes think we're back in the Middle Ages.

"I'm an actress at a film festival, I can cope with the questions. I'm a big girl. But it does surprise me that we're still asking those questions."