Globes test Oscar
waters for gay-themed films
But ‘Brokeback
Mountain’ faces uphill climb
in Academy Award race
By AP from the
NYTimes on the Web, December 13, 2005
BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. -- The
cowboys-in-love drama “Brokeback Mountain” received a leading seven Golden
Globes nominations, yet the critical favorite has an uphill trail for the
Academy Awards, where a gay-themed film has never won top honors.
Along with best dramatic picture, Globe nominations Tuesday for “Brokeback
Mountain” included lead actor Heath Ledger, supporting actress Michelle Williams
and director Ang Lee.
Also nominated for dramatic picture were the murder thriller “The Constant
Gardener,” the Edward R. Murrow tale “Good Night, and Good Luck,” the mobster
story “A History of Violence” and “Match Point,” a drama about infidelity.
Chosen as 2005’s best film by critics groups in New York, Los Angeles and
Boston, “Brokeback Mountain” stars Ledger as a husband and father carrying on a
secret affair with an old sheepherding companion (Jake Gyllenhaal).
Lee, who won the best-director Golden Globe for “Crouching Tiger, Hidden
Dragon,” said he does not worry the gay subject matter will turn off audiences
or Oscar voters. But he said he does hesitate to call it a movie about gay
cowboys because “it sounds a little funny to me in its connotation, like we’re
doing ‘Blazing Saddles.’
“That’s what’s bothering me, because it’s a serious love story,” Lee said.
“Given the Western macho aura ... the more difficult, the more love is hindered,
the more grand the love is.”
Joining Lee as Globe directing nominees were Woody Allen for “Match Point,”
George Clooney for “Good Night, and Good Luck,” Peter Jackson for “King Kong,”
Fernando Meirelles for “The Constant Gardener” and Steven Spielberg for
“Munich.” Clooney also earned a supporting-actor nomination for the
oil-industry thriller “Syriana.”
Felicity Huffman received two nominations — best dramatic actress in a film for
her role as a man preparing for sex-change surgery in “Transamerica” and best
actress in a TV musical or comedy for “Desperate Housewives.” Her
“Desperate Housewives” co-stars Marcia Cross, Teri Hatcher and Eva Longoria also
were nominated, and the ABC show earned a best TV comedy bid.
Oscar voters may reject gay theme
Despite the acclaim and an impressive debut last weekend, when the film took
in $550,000 in just five theaters, “Brokeback Mountain” may prove more
off-putting to Oscar voters than to the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, the
Golden Globe organizers who have traditionally been more receptive to gay
themes.
“It’s going to be a front-runner, but it really has a mountain to climb, because
never have we seen a gay romance in the best-picture race before,” said Tom
O’Neil, who runs theenvelope.com, an awards Web site.
Movies with gay angles have earned acting honors, Tom Hanks winning for
“Philadelphia,” Hilary Swank for “Boys Don’t Cry,” but those movies did not
break into the best-picture pack. “Kiss of the Spider Woman” won an Oscar
for William Hurt as a gay man and earned a best-picture nomination, losing to
“Out of Africa,” and best-picture winners “American Beauty” and “Midnight
Cowboy” had homosexual subtexts. But “Brokeback Mountain” looks to be the
biggest test yet for gay-themed films come Oscar time.
Conservative critics have assailed “Brokeback Mountain,” saying it markets gay
lifestyles.
“By utilizing two of the most attractive and popular young Hollywood actors for
these roles in such a compelling story, they have created characters people can
identify and sympathize with to sway the public into believing this is natural
behavior,” said David Kupelian, author of “The Marketing of Evil: How
Radicals, Elitists and Pseudo-Experts Sell Us Corruption Disguised as Freedom.”
Novelist Larry McMurtry and Diana Ossana — who shared a screenplay nomination
for “Brokeback Mountain,” adapted from Annie Proulx’s short story — said the
film was a broader story of tragic love, not a homosexual romance.
“People come in with preconceived notions about the film, I guess because it’s
acquired that tagline, ‘a story about gay cowboys.’ We’ve had people at
screenings refer to it as that,” Ossana said. “One person who saw it said
afterward, ‘I came in calling it that but will never call it that again.”’
“It’s a tragedy, not a success story,” McMurtry said. “It doesn’t wave the
banner of triumph over the homosexual lifestyle or any lifestyle. It’s a
story about life itself. This is a realistic story and a sad story.”
The Globes were a triumph for smaller budgeted films over big studio
productions. Philip Berk, head of the foreign press group, said it was the
first time all nominees for best dramatic film were independent movies shot for
less than $30 million.
The Globes have a separate category for musical or comedy films. Nominated
were the theater tale “Mrs. Henderson Presents,” the Jane Austen costume pageant
“Pride & Prejudice,” the Broadway musical “The Producers,” the divorce story
“The Squid and the Whale” and the Johnny Cash film biography “Walk the Line.”
Along with Ledger, dramatic lead actor contenders included three performers
playing real-life figures: Russell Crowe as Depression-era boxer Jim
Braddock in “Cinderella Man,” Philip Seymour Hoffman as author Truman Capote in
“Capote,” and David Strathairn as newsman Murrow in “Good Night, and Good Luck.”
The fifth nominee was Terrence Howard as a pimp-turned-rap singer in “Hustle &
Flow.”
Besides Huffman, dramatic actress nominees were Maria Bello as a wife learning
painful secrets about her husband in “A History of Violence,” Gwyneth Paltrow as
an unstable math genius’ daughter in “Proof,” Charlize Theron as a woman leading
a sexual harassment lawsuit in “North Country” and Ziyi Zhang as a poor girl who
becomes the belle of Japan’s geisha houses in “Memoirs of a Geisha.”
For best actor in a movie, musical or comedy, Globe voters nominated Pierce
Brosnan as a burned-out hit man in “The Matador,” Jeff Daniels as a husband
unglued by divorce in “The Squid and the Whale,” Johnny Depp as candyman Willy
Wonka in “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,” Nathan Lane as a Broadway con man
in “The Producers,” Cillian Murphy as a cross-dressing Irishman in “Breakfast on
Pluto,” and Joaquin Phoenix as country legend Cash in “Walk the Line.”
Best musical or comedy film actress nominees: Judi Dench as a 1930s
British dame who opens a nude theatrical review in “Mrs. Henderson Presents,”
Keira Knightley as the romantic heroine in “Pride & Prejudice,” Laura Linney as
a divorcing wife in “The Squid and the Whale,” Sarah Jessica Parker as a woman
hated by her fiance’s relatives in “The Family Stone,” and Reese Witherspoon as
country singer June Carter in “Walk the Line.”
Golden Globe winners will be announced Jan. 16, five days before polls close for
Oscar voters. Oscar nominations come out Jan. 31, and the awards will be
presented March 5.
The Globes generally serve as a solid barometer for Oscar nominations, though
contenders typically say they try not to think ahead to the Oscars.
“But it certainly crosses my mother’s mind,” said dramatic actress nominee
Bello. “She told me, ‘I’m saying a novena for you. I’m sure you’ll
be nominated.’”
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