With “The Fabelmans” a strongly autobiographical work was awarded. The film, which can be seen in cinemas in Austria from March 9, beat out James Cameron’s ‘Avatar: The Way of Water’, ‘Elvis’, ‘Tar’ and ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ at the Los Angeles gala. The Fabelmans traces the beginnings of Spielberg’s career as one of the most celebrated filmmakers of all time.
The Golden Globe for Best Comedy went to The Banshees of Inisherin, a film about two friends on a remote Irish island. Irishman Colin Farrell also won Best Actor in a Comedy for his performance in the film. Austin Butler won Best Actor in a Drama for playing rock ‘n’ roll legend Elvis Presley in director Baz Luhrman’s ‘Elvis’.
Cate Blanchett Best Actress – Drama
Cate Blanchett could have gone home with the award for Best Actress in a Drama for her role in Tar. However, the actress stayed away from the gala — presumably prevented from filming — so her praiser accepted her award on her behalf.
In the fictional musical film “Tar”, Blanchett plays the first female chief conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic. With the performance, she is also considered the heavy favorite for the entire awards season. Michelle Yeoh won the Golden Globe for Best Female Actress in a Comedy for her role in Everything Everyone All at Once, a science fiction film about parallel universes.
Awarded the Golden Globes
Corruption, lack of diversity and sexual assault led to a boycott of last year’s Globes Globes. Despite the absence of several stars, the barometer was clearly back to normal for the 80th anniversary edition. Best Director went to Steven Spielberg for The Fabelmans. The film also won Best Drama.
“All Quiet in the West” gets nothing
The award for best foreign language film went to Argentina, 1985. The Argentine political thriller revolves around a historic trial against the leaders of the military dictatorship in the South American country. The German anti-war film “Nothing New in the West” came out empty handed. The film adaptation of Erich Maria Remarque’s novel was also nominated in the category “Best Foreign Language Film”.
Video message from Ukrainian president and former actor Volodymyr Zelenskyy was also part of the trophy show. “You were the best last year,” Zelensky thanked the assembled Hollywood celebrities for supporting his country in the war against Russia. The Golden Globes were first awarded in 1943 when World War II was not over yet, but the most important battles had already been fought. “Even the war in Ukraine is not over yet, but the tide is turning and it is already clear who will win in the end,” Zelenskyy said.
Rewards Abbott Elementary and House of the Dragon
The big winner in the TV categories was the comedy series Abbott Elementary, about an elementary school in Philadelphia. The series won three awards including Best Comedy, Best Comedy Lead Quinta Brunson and Tyler James Williams for Best Supporting Actor. Best Comedian was Jeremy Allen White as a young chef in The Bear.
Game of Thrones spin-off House of the Dragon won Best Drama Series. Zendaya won Best Actress in a Drama Series for the youth series Euphoria, and Kevin Costner won Best Actor for his role in the neowestern Yellowstone.
Larger and more diversified jury
The presentation of the Golden Globes marks the annual start of award ceremonies in the world of international cinema. The awards are presented by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA). Due to the lack of transparency and diversity, the association came under considerable pressure last year, so that last year’s awards were held without any charm.
Prices have only been announced online. As part of a restructuring, the Globe juror pool has now grown and diversified. The 96-member HFPA now has six black members — up from zero in 2021 — and added 103 non-members, more than ten of whom are said to be “people of color.”
Try turning things around
The Association of Foreign Press (HFPA) has gone to great lengths to create a good atmosphere for the Globes. A host of celebrity names such as Claire Danes, Cole Hauser, Jennifer Hudson and Salma Hayek were announced as hosts to mark the end of the Globes debate for the past two years.
In the new year, Ana de Armas and director Quentin Tarantino were named sensational guests at the 80th Globe Gala. The president of the HFPA, Helen Hoehne, born in Germany, proudly said that there was a lot of feedback from the film world. Hoehne had a sizable front of criticism against himself in the previous year.
Tom Cruise and Brendan Fraser stayed away
“Our organization has gone through a real process of reform over the past 18 months,” said Hoehne, who promised that transparency and accountability would further increase and that a diversity journey would continue.
However, some only spoke of fig-leaf fixes, famous Hollywood stars continued to coolly show the award. In addition to Blanchett, Tom Cruise (nominated for “Top Gun: Maverick”) and Brendan Fraser (“The Whale”) stayed away. Fraser cited the HFPA’s handling of his allegation that a former head of the organization, Philip Berk, groped him at a luncheon in 2003. Berk has denied the allegation and is no longer a member.
Host Carmichael criticizes the HFPA
Also this year the 80th Globe Award was broadcast live by the US broadcaster NBC. African-American comedian and actor Jerrod Carmichael acted as moderator. His nomination was also seen as a sign of diversity, which Carmichael stated bluntly: “I’m going to tell you why I’m here. I’m here because I’m black,” the comedian said.
“I’m not going to say they were a racist organization,” said Carmichael of the HFPA. “But they didn’t have a single black member until George Floyd died. So do what you want with this information.” He declined to meet Hoehne before the awards ceremony He took the job for the money and to honor the film and television industry.
