Golden Globes 2022: West Side Story, The Power of the Dog, Succession among the big winners

This year, the Golden Globes was a 90-minute private event, having been dropped by TV in part over the Hollywood Foreign Press Association’s lack of diversity
Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story won major awards, while TV winners included Succession and actors Sarah Snook and Jeremy Strong, and Oh Yeong-su (Squid Game)

American cinema

Associated Press

Published: 1:17pm, 10 Jan 2022

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The Golden Globe Awards, Hollywood’s so-called biggest party that regularly drew 18 million television viewers, was reduced to a live-blog for its 79th edition.

The embattled Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA) proceeded with its film awards without a telecast, nominees, a red carpet, a host, press or even a live-stream.

Instead, members of the HFPA and some recipients of the group’s philanthropic grants gathered at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Los Angeles for a 90-minute private event, announcing the names of the film and television winners on the organisation’s social media feeds.

Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story won several big awards, for best picture comedy or musical, best actress for Rachel Zegler and best supporting actress for Ariana DeBose.

Benedict Cumberbatch in a still from The Power of the Dog. Photo: Netflix

Film winners included Will Smith for King Richard, director Jane Campion and Kodi Smit-McPhee for The Power of the Dog, which won the best dramatic movie award, and Andrew Garfield for Tick, Tick … Boom!

The Japanese film Drive My Car, also a critics’ group darling, got best non-English language motion picture, while Encanto won for animation.

Hidetoshi Nishijima (left) and Toko Miura in a still from Drive My Car.

Television winners included Jean Smart for Hacks, which also won best television comedy, Jason Sudeikis for Ted Lasso, Succession, which took the best television drama award and its stars Sarah Snook and Jeremy Strong the best drama acting awards, Kate Winslet, best actress in a TV limited series for Mare of Easttown, Oh Yeong-su for Squid Game and Michael Keaton for Dopesick. Barry Jenkins’ The Underground Railroad got best limited series.

None of the winners appeared to be present at the event, nor did they immediately comment on their awards.

Jamie Lee Curtis, however, chimed in with a video message shared on the group’s Twitter, talking about the HFPA’s charitable work.

“I just wanted to honour and stand with them in this continued advocacy,” Curtis said. “I’m proud to be associated with them in this venture.”

Oh Yeong-su in a still from Squid Game. Photo: Netflix

That the organisation proceeded with any kind of event came as a surprise to many in Hollywood. The HFPA came under fire after a Los Angeles Times investigation revealed in February ethical lapses and a stunning lack of diversity – there was not a single black journalist in the 87-person group.

Studios and PR firms threatened to boycott. Tom Cruise even returned his three Golden Globes, while other A-listers condemned the group on social media.

They pledged reform last year, but even after a public declaration during the 78th show, their long-time broadcast partner NBC announced in May that it would not air the 2022 Golden Globes because “change of this magnitude takes time and work”. The broadcaster typically pays some US$60 million for the rights to air the show, which ranks among the most-watched awards shows behind the Oscars and the Grammys.

Though often ridiculed, Hollywood had come to accept the Golden Globes as a legitimate and helpful stop in a competitive awards season. And for audiences around the world, it was a reasonably lively night, with glamorous fashion, major stars, the promise of champagne-fuelled speeches, and hosts – from Tina Fey and Amy Poehler to Ricky Gervais – that regularly poked fun at the HFPA.

After the NBC blow, it was widely expected that the HFPA would simply sit the year out. Hollywood studios and publicists also largely opted out from engaging with the group as they had in years past, with some declining to provide screeners of films for consideration. When nominees were announced last month, few celebrated publicly.

This year, Kenneth Branagh’s semi-autobiographical drama Belfast, about growing up during the Troubles (a period of discontent in Northern Ireland from the 1960s to 1998), and Jane Campion’s The Power of the Dog, a Gothic Western set in 1925 Montana with Kirsten Dunst and Benedict Cumberbatch, both received a leading seven nominations, including best picture. HBO’s Succession led the television side with five nominations, including nods for best drama.

The press association claims that in the months since its 2021 show, it has remade itself. The group has added a chief diversity officer; overhauled its board; inducted 21 new members, including six black journalists; brought in the NAACP on a five-year partnership; and updated its code of conduct.

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