A beautiful night at the Golden Globes

A Beautiful Mind, a movie about a genius mathematician starring Russell Crowe, passed the first major test of Hollywood's awards season on Sunday at the 2002 Golden Globe awards, taking four honours including best dramatic film.

Crowe was named best actor in a leading role for his depiction of maths professor John Forbes Nash Jnr, whose brilliant mind succumbs to schizophrenia. The movie, directed by Ron Howard, explores the fine line between genius and insanity.

Jennifer Connelly took the Golden Globe for best supporting actress for her portrayal of Nash's wife in A Beautiful Mind and writer Akiva Goldsman won the trophy for his screenplay, which has been praised for its sensitive portrayal of mental illness.

The night's other major winner was musical Moulin Rouge, directed by Australian Baz Luhrmann. It claimed three trophies for best musical or comedy, best actress in a musical for Nicole Kidman and best original film score for Craig Armstrong.

In Moulin Rouge, Kidman portrays singer Satine, who becomes involved in an ill-fated love affair with a struggling writer, played by Ewan McGregor.

Taken together, the wins put A Beautiful Mind and Moulin Rouge clearly in the front-runners' position in the race to Hollywood's highest honours, the Oscars, which are awarded in March by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

But when asked later about the Oscar race, producer Brian Grazer said he was 'too conservative to get into that head space', and Crowe said: 'I'm not thinking about that. I'm thinking about going to Trader Vic's and having a drink.' Trader Vic's is a bar at the Beverly Hills hotel where the ceremony was held.