Perfectly somber, in tune with the dire worldwide situation, but also celebrating diversity and awarding long overdue prizes to exceptional filmmakers, the Golden Globes are back, Baby! And they are better than ever, so don’t listen to those jealous critics.
Remember when I said that Lily Gladstone is the most glorious thing about Killers of the Flower Moon? Well, OK, I didn’t say, I wrote it and it may not have come out quite that way, but hello!! She won the top prize for Best Performance by a Female Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama last night and what a well-deserved win that was.
Among those often overlooked, despite their tremendous contribution to cinema around the world, is Christopher Nolan, who finally won a major award and clinched a total of five Golden Globes with his masterpiece opus Oppenheimer. Along with Cillian Murphy’s win as Best Actor, in a Drama, Robert Downey Jr.’s win for Best Performance in a Supporting Role and Swedish composer Ludwig Göransson getting Best Original Score, Nolan won Best Director and Oppenheimer, Best Motion Picture - Drama. Nolan has been nominated often, for BAFTA’s, Academy Awards and even previously for various Golden Globes, but this “once a bridesmaid” filmmaker finally became the bride. And walked away a serious, and well deserved winner.
‘Barbie’ won Cinematic and Box Office Achievement at last night’s Golden Globes
There were no winners who weren’t deserving of their prize, actually. My only peeve is with Anatomy of a Fall, since the film is a long version of a Netflix crime/courtroom drama reality series, with great performances of course, and that cool song, a cover of 50 Cent's "P.I.M.P.”, by Bacao Rhythm & Steel Band. I can still hear it now, actually and it’s the only thing, apart from the white snow, that has remained with me. I urge my fellow voters, and festival programmers to watch a little more reality TV maybe? I mean, Best Screenplay too?? IMHO, a more courageous and actual choice for Best Foreign Film would have been Matteo Garrone’s Io Capitano, which highlights a crucial matter affecting all our lives around the world at the moment. And shows it with great heart and told from the POV of those living this ongoing tragedy to the fullest. The Oscars might pay more attention perhaps? Inshallah.
Naysayers, which included journalists for Slate and even the BBC, wrote that the evening, celebrated inside the Hilton Beverly Hills, seemed too somber and that the Globes had been famously known for their irreverence in the past. I paraphrase a bit, but according to these colleagues, the GG were known as “the Oscars’ drunk cousins.” Well, sobriety and a serious mood seems called for these days, with wars raging in several regions, and more upcoming. Planes loose parts which fall out of the skies and crash into one another on the tarmac, and we should all be fun and games? I’m more on the side of those who questioned why not one celebrity addressed the elephant in the room, the tragedy ongoing in Gaza. And why Ukraine’s president was allowed to speak at last year’s ceremony.
I’m going to try to address this as well. When we had a Zoom meeting amongst us voters back in November, a mini war broke out between Arab and Israeli Golden Globes members. One Egyptian journo started to read from a statement he had prepared, about the genocide perpetrated by Israel, and an Israeli writer chimed back with their own horror story of attacks and shelters and Hamas. So, this simply goes to prove that when you open that can of worms — war, injustice, violence and who is right/wrong in a conflict — you end up losing, even among rational, cinema journalists.
It reminded me of this quote from Keira Knightley, on The Talks:
“I learned you can say nothing, you can be perfectly smiling, wearing a perfectly nice dress at the opening of a charity and people can still despise you for it. What you learn as you grow up is you can only be yourself. People are either going to like you or they’re not going to like you.”
I mean, some criticized Jo Koy, the Filipino/American comedian, for his jokes — not all of which may have landed, granted. But if you force comedians to only say what is politically correct, as our current times dictate (not the GG!) you’re not going to have monologues a-la Steve Martin (Oscars 2003) or Billy Crystal (Oscars 1998). You are going to have a safe monologue that no one can be offended by, or slapped for… But it may not be that much fun. So perhaps, let us hope 2024 brings less PC behavior and more fun. Oh and less war too. Leave the world to filmmakers and cinema lovers, not the politicians and religious zealots, and the tides will change.
In the same articles quoted above, which criticized Jo Koy, there were also hints that someone as “seasoned” (read “old”) as Ricky Gervais should not have won the newly instituted prize for Best Performance in Stand-Up Comedy on Television. OK, now I’m confused, is it too fresh or not fresh enough that’s bad? Which one, please tell me, I’m serious…
I do think that the Golden Globes should see more diversity to come, but not at the expense of taking prizes away from great cinema or not allowing the best man, and woman to win. I think the awards last night were handed out fairly and with honorable intentions. Everyone came looking their best and their speeches were thoughtful and reflective of a general global mood of disbelief at how 2023 ended, and a new year has begun. And Timothée Chalamet came on a little date with Kyle Jenner, so what more could you ask for!
I also think that the Globes can only do so much to diversify their voting body, when women, PoC and the LGBTQ+ community aren’t included in equal, fair numbers in publishing and in the media. When the look of the average journalist will change, for a more inclusive one, that will be the day the GG will be absolutely perfect.
For now, we’ll have to do with utterly wonderful.
Read all the winners and discover their fellow nominees, on the Golden Globes website.