Golden Globes | Steven Spielberg wins best director award for The Fabelmans

(Los Angeles) American director Steven Spielberg won the Golden Globe for best director on Tuesday for his semi-autobiographical film The Fabelmans.

This intimate feature film is largely inspired by the filmmaker’s childhood. He portrays a young American Jew who dreams of making films in the 1960s, while his parents watch their couple inexorably fall apart.

Cate Blanchett won the Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Drama on Tuesday for her role in Tar.

In this feature film which takes place in the hushed world of classical music, the Australian-American actress embodies a ruthless conductor at the top of her game and whose life is falling apart.

American actor Austin Butler won the Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Drama on Tuesday for his brilliant portrayal of rock ‘n’ roll legend Elvis Presley in the biopic Elvis.

The comedian beat Brendan Fraser, nominated for The WhaleHugh Jackman for The SonBritain’s Bill Nighy for Living and Jeremy Pope for The Inspection.

Irish actor Colin Farrell won the Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Comedy on Tuesday for his role in The Banshees of Inisherin.

In this tragicomedy, he plays an islander confused by the abrupt end of his friendship with a longtime friend, who no longer wants to speak to him.

Malaysian actress Michelle Yeoh won the Golden Globe for best actress in a comedy on Tuesday for her role in the surreal and hair-raising Everything Everywhere All at Once.

In this science-fiction feature film, she plays a laundromat owner exhausted by her administrative hassles and her family life who suddenly discovers the existence of parallel universes, all threatened by her depressed daughter.

Celebrities at the rendezvous despite recent scandals

From Steven Spielberg to James Cameron, via Guillermo del Toro, many Hollywood heavyweights attended the Golden Globes in person on Tuesday, despite the scandals surrounding their jury, which tarnished the image of these awards.

Presenter of the evening, the African-American comedian Jerrod Carmichael opened with a joke recalling the accusations of racism, sexism and corruption aimed at the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA), which presents these awards .

“I’ll tell you why I’m here. I’m here because I’m black,” he said.

“I’m not going to say it’s a racist organization, but they didn’t have a single black member until George Floyd died. So do what you want with this information,” he added.

Shunned by the gratin and deprived of television last year, the Golden Globes are back on NBC. The American channel agreed to broadcast the 80^e edition after a series of reforms to the HFPA to improve its diversity and prohibit its members from accepting gifts from studios.

Brad Pitt expected

Many big names responded to the red carpet on Tuesday evening, including director Steven Spielberg, whose semi-autobiographical The Fabelmans part favorite for the award for best dramatic film, and actor Eddie Murphy, who must be singled out for his entire career.

They were attended by directors Guillermo del Toro and James Cameron, as well as actress Margot Robbie. On Twitter, the HFPA also announced the presence of Brad Pitt and Rihanna, in the running for awards.

But the ceremony is rather low profile: most of the “after-parties” usually organized by the studios to drown their winners under champagne will not take place.

Faced with controversies, the producer ofAvatar: The Way of WaterJon Landau, defended his presence on the red carpet this year.

“I think the HFPA has reacted to the criticism aimed at it and is taking action,” he told AFP, praising the organization for its reforms.

Spielberg, Cruise, Cameron

The ceremony must however deal with two absent marks.

Brendan Fraser, nominated for his role as an obese and reclusive professor in his The Whaleaccuses a former president of the HFPA of having sexually assaulted him and boycotts the event.

Producer of Top Gun: MaverickTom Cruise was also to be absent, after returning his three Golden Globes to protest the scandals.

His feature film will attempt nonetheless, with the other huge 2022 box office hit Avatar: The Way of Waterto prevent The Fabelmans to win the prize for best dramatic film.

Tarwhich takes place in the universe of classical music, and the biopic Elvison the king of rock’n’roll could also come as a surprise.

As for comedies, Irish tragicomedy The Banshees of Inisherinwhich depicts the abrupt end of a friendship on a small Irish island in the 1920s, will compete in eight categories, a first for twenty years.

The film confronts in particular the surreal and mind-blowing Everything Everywhere All At Once.

In-Game Prestige

Faced with controversy, the HFPA notably renewed the Golden Globes jury, including 103 new entrants – who are not full members of the association – including many women and people from ethnic minorities.

After recent controversies, the prestige of these awards is on the line at this ceremony.

In the past, a success at the Golden Globes was a valuable marketing tool, capable of launching a winning campaign towards the supreme prize of the Oscars.

But if the film posters again highlight the nominations for the Golden Globes, unlike last year, their power of influence seems to be permanently diminished, according to columnist Pete Hammond, of the specialized site Deadline.

“When every article on the Globes talks about scandal […] it doesn’t make them as believable, I think, to Oscar voters,” he concludes.