Multi-lingual drama "Babel" has shared top honors with veteran
director Martin Scorsese at the Golden Globes as musical
"Dreamgirls" laid down a marker for next month's Oscars.
Hollywood's royalty turned out in force for a glittering Beverly
Hills ceremony that saw "Babel" crowned best picture while veteran
film-maker Scorsese was honored with best director for his
hard-hitting "The Departed."
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Both films are seen as front-runners for the Academy Awards in
Hollywood on February 25, but each will expect a strong challenge
from "Dreamgirls," the musical about a 1960s soul trio loosely
based on The Supremes.
"Dreamgirls" walked away with three major honors, winning best
supporting actor and actress awards for Eddie Murphy and Jennifer
Hudson respectively.
It also won best picture in the musical or comedy category and now
seems certain to earn an Oscar nod when the Academy Award best
picture nominations are revealed on January 23.
"Babel's" Mexican director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu received the
best picture award from California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger,
who appeared on crutches to give the final prize of the night at
the Beverly Hilton.
"I swear I have my papers in order governor, I swear," Inarritu
quipped, a reference to his harrowing film, which touches on
immigration border issues between the United States and
Mexico.
"Babel" weaves together the lives of four families on three
continents who become linked by a single shot fired from a rifle in
the mountains of Morocco.
"It seems that no matter how many languages you make a film in, I
think the power of cinema is universal and at the end emotion
doesn't need translation and that's the beauty of it," Inarritu
said.
Earlier Scorsese picked up his second Golden Globe gong in four
years following his victory in 2003 for "Gangs of New York."
The creator of such cinematic landmarks as "Taxi Driver," "Raging
Bull" and "Goodfellas" has been nominated five times for an Oscar
and never won but is seen as favorite for the directors prize this
year.
"Oh, my," Scorsese said, before saluting Jack Nicholson for his
work on "The Departed," his first collaboration with the actor.
"What a time we had."
In the acting categories, British veteran Helen Mirren scored a
notable double, winning two Golden Globes for her portrayal of
Queens Elizabeth I and Elizabeth II in separate productions.
Mirren is considered the overwhelming favorite for best actress
at the Oscars for playing Elizabeth II in "The Queen," a
fictionalized account of life in the royal household following the
1997 death of Princess Diana.
Mirren dedicated her award to the British monarch.
"In 1952 a woman called Elizabeth Windsor at the age of 25 walked
into literally the role of a lifetime and I honestly feel this
award belongs to her because I think you fell in love with her not
with me," Mirren said.
The best actor in a drama role went as expected to Forest Whitaker,
beating out stiff challenges from Peter O'Toole and Leonardo
DiCaprio, with his portrayal of Ugandan dictator Idi Amin in "The
Last King of Scotland."
An emotional Whitaker choked back tears as he told the audience:
"It means a lot to me."
The biggest laughs of the night came from British comedian Sacha
Baron Cohen, winner of the best comedy actor award for his film,
"Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious
Nation of Kazakhstan."
The spoof documentary sees Cohen play a blundering Kazakh
journalist traveling through the American heartland in search of
cultural enlightenment.
A hit at the box-office, it has courted controversy however with
some participants taking legal action claiming they were duped into
appearing.
The satire is also notable for some hair-raising nude wrestling
scenes between Cohen and his co-star Ken Davitian.
"This movie was a life-changing experience," Cohen said. "I saw
some dark sides of America. I refer to the anus and testicles of my
co-star Ken Davitian.
"Ken, when I was in that scene and I stared down and saw your two,
wrinkled golden globes on my chin, I thought to myself, 'I better
win a bloody award for this.'"
Other winners on Monday included screen legends Meryl Streep and
Clint Eastwood, whose war epic "Letters from Iwo Jima" scooped up
the best foreign-language film prize.
The 57-year-old Streep won the sixth Golden Globe award of her
career for her portrayal of an icy fashion magazine editor in the
hit comedy "The Devil Wears Prada."
"Thank you so much," Streep said. "I'm really thrilled, I think
I've worked with everybody in the room!"
Eastwood, meanwhile, praised actor Ken Watanabe for his performance
in "Letters from Iwo Jima," which was made in Japanese and is one
of back-to-back films shot by the director about the battle for Iwo
Jima in World War II.
"You don't know what this does for my confidence," quipped
Eastwood.
Eastwood's movie is not eligible for the foreign language prize at
the Oscars but it is considered a possible contender in the best
movie category.
Organized by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, the Golden
Globes are seen as a key barometer of likely contenders for the
Oscars.
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(Agencies via CRI January 16, 2007)