Reflections on the 2006 Golden Globes

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Last year, I graduated from Chapman University with an M.A. in Film Studies. I wrote my thesis about director Ang Lee´s first three feature-length movies. As luck would have it, Lee´s next effort, "Brokeback Mountain" was launched to great acclaim at last year´s Venice Film Festival, where it won the Golden Lion (Best Picture award). Venice inaugurated Lee and his movie´s steady march towards more awards victories.

Yes, I wrote a lukewarm review of "Brokeback Mountain", but it´s possible that I need to watch it again and re-assess it. More importantly, because I have a background that is similar to Lee´s, I have been following this awards season with great enthusiasm. The 2005-2006 awards are about industry and media support for the soft-spoken guy from Taiwan who made watching Chinese-language movies a mainstream thing, who has embraced his adopted country by examining difficult eras with "The Ice Storm" and "Ride With the Devil", and who crafted the most-complete adaptation of a comic-book superhero series with "Hulk".

"Brokeback Mountain" collected four Golden Globes (out of seven nominations) at an event that usually spreads the wealth. The Hollywood Foreign Press Association wants to be friends with everyone in the movie business, which explains its split categories for Drama and Comedy/Musical as well as its splitting of Picture and Director in several years. Yet, "Brokeback Mountain" took awards for Picture, Director, Screenplay, and Original Song. The Screenplay win was especially surprising since "Crash" and "Good Night, and Good Luck" had smaller chances in other categories. (The HFPA did not give "Good Night, and Good Luck" anything despite the fact that the movie is about a crusading journalist.)

Clint Eastwood presented the Best Director award, and at the beginning of his acceptance speech, Lee remarked how nice it was to receive the award from "The Man". Eastwood has been a symbol of masculinity for decades, but the handover was also significant in that Eastwood´s persona is forever tied to Westerns. Just as Eastwood´s Westerns transformed the genre, so has Lee´s Western.

In a gracious gesture, Lee thanked editor Tim Squyres because Lee forgot to thank Squyres when "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" was making the awards rounds five years ago. Squyres has edited all of Lee´s movies except for "Brokeback Mountain". (I felt that Squyres´s finesse would´ve benefited the movie.) That Lee mentioned Squyres indicates that they´re probably still friends. I had been afraid that the two had a falling out, but I suppose it´s possible that they will work together again.

Since moving to the U.S. for college, Lee has made this country his home. All the scripts for his movies have been written in English, even his Chinese-language projects. Of his nine directorial efforts, only one was shot in Taiwan (his birthplace), and only one was shot in China (his ethnic homeland). There has been much cultural discourse about where Lee and his works "belong". Yet, his finish to his acceptance speech was to let people in China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong know that he remembers them. He wished everyone a Happy Chinese New Year--in English and in Mandarin Chinese.

Back in 2001 when "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" took home four Oscars, people were talking about how Asian movies and moviemakers had "arrived" in Hollywood. While it was undeniably pleasing seeing a Chinese-language movie enjoy that level of visibility, we now have a Chinese-born director winning awards for helming a movie in a very American genre. In a sense, this is Ang Lee´s real breakthrough moment--he´s winning awards for something that isn´t tied to his personal background.

The list of winners:
Picture, Drama – "Brokeback Mountain"
Picture, Comedy or Musical – "Walk the Line"
Foreign Language Film – "Paradise Now" from Palestine
Director – Ang Lee, "Brokeback Mountain"
Actor, Drama – Philip Seymour Hoffman, "Capote"
Actress, Drama – Felicity Huffman, "Transamerica"
Actor, Comedy or Musical – Joaquin Phoenix, "Walk the Line"
Actress, Comedy or Musical – Reese Witherspoon, "Walk the Line"
Supporting Actor – George Clooney, "Syriana"
Supporting Actress – Rachel Weisz, "The Constant Gardener"
Screenplay – Larry McMurtry and Diana Ossana, "Brokeback Mountain"
Music Score – John Williams, "Memoirs of a Geisha"
Original Song – "A Love That Will Never Grow Old, "Brokeback Mountain"

The Golden Globes are perceived to have an influence on the Oscars, but in reality, the Golden Globes are handed out only days before the end of the Oscar nomination process. Therefore, the Golden Globes only marginally affects straggling voters. The word on the grapevine is that most Academy members return their nomination ballots before the Golden Globes are announced. This means that the Golden Globes reflect, rather than set, industry trends that indicate possible Oscar contenders. The matching of Golden-Globe and Oscar winners is coincidence, not direct causation.

Remember, the Golden Globes are handed out by journalists and critics. This puts the Globes in line with the other critics awards even though the Hollywood Foreign Press Association tends to skew mainstream more than their peers do. The Oscars are handed out by members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, and their choices are usually in line with moviemaking guild nominations/awards.

"Crash", directed and co-written by Paul Haggis, has been surging in recent weeks. However, the movie received only two Golden-Globe nominations, and its recent surge was not enough to result in any wins. Still, "Crash" is set in Los Angeles, has an uplifting message, and was a box-office success despite its modest origins. This is the kind of movie that makes Academy members feel good about themselves, and a vote for this kind of movie is like voting for oneself. (Oddly, this sort of thinking puts "Crash" on par with movies like "Titanic" and "Gladiator".) "Crash" will grab several Oscar nominations and will probably win Best Original Screenplay.

"Walk the Line" will receive several nominations as well, owing much to the popularity of Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon with their peers. Phoenix is facing an uphill battle since there is much admiration for Philip Seymour Hoffman and Heath Ledger ("Brokeback Mountain"), though Reese Witherspoon will probably win the Oscar despite Felicity Huffman´s momentum. Oscar voters will see that Huffman already enjoyed awards success for her role on the TV show "Desperate Housewives" and will hand the naked-man statue to a young actress who is poised to become America´s next sweetheart.

George Clooney will receive several nominations for his work on "Good Night, and Good Luck" and "Syriana". The Academy will reward him in some way, either as a writer or as an actor. With Picture going to "Brokeback Mountain", Clooney will not win as a producer of "Good Night, and Good Luck". However, if he wins Supporting Actor, then Paul Giamatti will have been snubbed once again. If Clooney wins Original Screenplay, then "Crash" will have lost its surest shot at Oscar glory. Clooney´s eventual success will depend on how the nominations are dispersed. If "Good Night, and Good Luck" and "Syriana" (individually or together) collect more nominations than "Crash" and "Cinderella Man", then Clooney´s chances improve in every category (except Picture, of course).

Rachel Weisz will probably win the Supporting Actress category. In the Academy, there are fervent fans of Fernando Meirelles (his "City of God" unexpectedly received four nominations a few years ago), and "The Constant Gardener" has the kind of political message ("Big corporations are evil.") that is popular with Hollywood. "The Constant Gardener" won´t win anything else, so saluting Weisz is the Academy´s salute to the movie.

My early Oscar predictions:
Picture – "Brokeback Mountain"
Foreign Film – "Joyeux Noel" ("Merry Christmas") from France
Animated Feature – "Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit"
Director – Ang Lee, "Brokeback Mountain"
Actor – Philip Seymour Hoffman, "Capote"
Actress – Reese Witherspoon, "Walk the Line"
Supporting Actor – George Clooney, "Syriana"
Supporting Actress – Rachel Weisz, "The Constant Gardener"
Original Screenplay – Paul Haggis and Bobby Moresco, "Crash"
Adapated Screenplay – Larry McMurtry and Diana Ossana, "Brokeback Mountain"
Cinematography – Rodrigo Prieto, "Brokeback Mountain"
Editing – Geraldine Peroni and Dylan Tichenor, "Brokeback Mountain"
Sound Mixing – "Walk the Line"
Sound Editing – "King Kong"
Music Score – John Williams, "Memoirs of a Geisha"
Original Song – "In the Deep", "Crash"
("A Love That Will Never Grow Old" from "Brokeback Mountain" was deemed ineligible for various reasons)
Art Design – "Memoirs of a Geisha"
Costume – "Memoirs of a Geisha"
Make-Up – "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, & the Wardrobe"
Visual Effects – "King Kong"

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