The 69th Annual Golden Globe Awards took place Sunday evening, January 16, at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in LA. “The Artist” and “The Descendants” were clearly the big winners of the night. It seems fitting that “The Artist,” a foreign film, dominated the awards ceremony Sunday as the Golden Globes is an annual ceremony organized by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA). The HFPA is composed of film journalists located in multiple continents with ninety members representing at least fifty-five countries in the world. Consequently, the Globes is seen in one hundred ninety nine countries every year.
BEST MOTION PICTURE – COMEDY OR MUSICAL- The Artist
After the famous dog Uggie from “The Artist” showed off his special talents to the audience, producer Jeremy Burdeck accepted the award on behalf of the film. “In 1965, a young French man directed, wrote, and produced a short film and then prayed for a miracle to come. And then it came. In 1966, His film, “Le Poulet,” won for Best Short Film at the 39th Academy Awards in 1966. That man was Burdeck’s father, Claude Berri. He added that his father could not afford to go to Hollywood to accept his award. In his moving speech, Burdeck was very grateful to accept this award in honor of the film as well as his father, who passed away three years ago. Burdeck also thanked Director Michel Hazanavicius “but not only for your unique film, but for who you are.” As the music started to play, Hazanavicius simply said, “Thank You”.
BEST ACTOR – COMEDY OR MUSICAL- Jean Dujardin, The Artist
When accepting the award, Jean Dujardin said, “I think all of us at one time get told ‘no’. When I was starting out an agent said to me that your face is too expressive, too big. I have always followed my instinct to fight for my dreams, so I want to thank him for letting me prove him wrong”. He then finished his speech with appropriately silent words and gestures to the audience.
ORIGINAL SCORE – MOTION PICTURE
A recent European Film Awards winner, Ludovic Bource won Best Original Score for “The Artist.” Bource, a Frenchman, was at a loss for words during his acceptance speech, but admitted he is “better with music than words.” He also added, “The power of music is that it is universal, the beauty of the silent movie is that it is also universal.”
Robert Downey Jr. presented “The Artist” clip at the award ceremony. “Chaplin, Lang, Hitchcock, Ford, Lubitsch, Wilder, Downey… Senior – brilliant risk takers throughout the history of cinema,” he said. “And our next movie is an incredible tribute to those pioneers. The story proves as the world changes for better or for worse, it is always love that triumphs. And an outstanding ensemble cast reminds us you can still feel so much and yet say so little.”
BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
Out of the incredible Foreign Language Film nominees this year, Iran’s “A Separation” won the Golden Globe. It was also a triple prize winner at the Berlin International Film Festival earlier this year. When Director Asghar Farhadi accepted the award, he said “I When I was coming up on the stage I was thinking what should I say here. Should I say something about my mother, my father, my kind wife, my daughters, my dear friends, my crew….? But now I just prefer to say something about my people. I think they are truly loving people.”
And lastly, to finish out the incredible international film ceremony, Sophia Vergara and Steve Levitan accepted the award for their television comedy, Modern Family, in two different languages, English and Spanish. They decided to accept the award bilingually since the Golden Globes is an International Awards Ceremony, led by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association. Indeed, what a fantastic International Film celebration at the Golden Globes this year.