Chloe Zhao’s Shakespeare drama Hamnet pulls off an upset over Sinners to win best film award
Los Angeles: Paul Thomas Anderson’s ragtag revolutionary saga ‘One Battle After Another’ took top honours at Sunday’s 83rd Golden Globes in the comedy category, while Chloe Zhao’s Shakespeare drama ‘Hamnet’ pulled off an upset over ‘Sinners’ to win best film-drama.
‘One Battle After Another’ won best film, comedy, supporting female actor for Teyana Taylor and best director and best screenplay for Anderson. He became just the second filmmaker to sweep director, screenplay and film, as a producer, at the Globes. Only Oliver Stone, for ‘Born on the Fourth of July’, managed thesame feat.
In an awards ceremony that went almost entirely as expected, the night’s final award was the most surprising. While ‘One Battle After Another’ has been the clear front-runner this awards season, most have pegged Ryan Coogler’s Jim Crow-era vampire thriller as its closest competition.
But ‘Hamnet’, a speculative drama about William and Agnes Shakespeare based on Maggie O’Farrell’s bestseller, won in the dramatic category shortly after its star, Jessie Buckley, won best female actor in a drama.
It was a banner night for Warner Bros, the studio behind ‘One Battle After Another’ and ‘Sinners’. Warner Bros Discovery has agreed to be sold to Netflix in an $83 billion deal. Paramount Skydance has appealed to shareholders with its own rival offer.
In his speech after winning best director, Anderson praised Warner co-chief Michael DeLuca.
“He said he wanted to run a studio one day and let filmmakers make whatever they want,” said Anderson. “That’s how you get ‘Sinners’. That’s how you get a ‘Weapons’. That’s how you get ‘One Battle After Another’.”
The final awards brought to, or near, the stage a handful of the most talented filmmakers together in Anderson, Zhao and Coogler – plus Steven Spielberg, a producer of ‘Hamnet’.
‘Sinners’ won for best score and cinematic and box-office achievement. The win for box office and cinematic achievement, over franchise films like ‘Avatar: Fire and Ash’, was notable for Coogler’s film, a movie that some reports labelled a qualified success on its release.
Yet ‘Sinners’ ultimately grossed $278 million domestically and $368 million worldwide, making it highest grossing original film in 15 years.
“I just want to thank the audience for showing up,” said Coogler.
Coming off years of scandal and subsequent rehabilitation, the Globes and host Nikki Glaser put on a star-studded ceremony that saw wins for the streaming sensation ‘KPop Demon Hunters’ (best animated film, song), a meta triumph for Seth Rogen’s ‘The Studio’ and an inaugural award for podcasting that went to Amy Poehler’s ‘Good Hang’.
Many of the Oscar favourites won. Timothee Chalamet won his first Golden Globe, for ‘Marty Supreme’, after four previous nominations. The 30-year-old is poised to win his first Oscar. Fellow nominees like Leonardo DiCaprio and George Clooney stood to applaud his win.
The Globes, held at the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, California, got underway with a pointedly political opening from host Nikki Glaser and an early award for the night’s favourite, ‘One Battle After Another’. Emceeing the show for the second straight year, Glaser kicked off the show with self-aware satire.
