Getty Images
BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. (Jan. 11) - Topping off its massive night, "Slumdog Millionaire" likely became a major Oscar favorite thanks to its huge Golden Globes wins for best motion picture, best director and best screenplay, while Kate Winslet and '30 Rock' also had very productive nights.
"Slumdog Millionaire" director Danny Boyle was overjoyed with the reception his movie has gotten.
Skip over this content
"Is this really happening to me? My first film wins four Golden
Globes? I just can't believe it," "Slumdog Millionaire" co-star
Freida Pinto gushed to reporters backstage as she stood among her
collaborators, including Danny Boyle, who won the best-director
prize.
A critical darling and solid box-office success, "Slumdog
Millionaire" knocked off best-drama nominees that included Brad
Pitt's "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," Winslet and
Leonardo DiCaprio's "Revolutionary Road" and Ron Howard's
"Frost/Nixon."
"They have this expression - which I hope I pronounce correctly
- in Hindi, which is when you do something, you should do it from
the heart," director Boyle said backstage. "The film was made
from the heart, and we never expected to be here, and it's
incredible that we are."
The best screenplay and musical score prizes also went to
"Slumdog Millionaire," the story of an orphan boy who rises from
terrible hardship to become a champ on India's version of "Who
Wants to Be a Millionaire," all the while trying to reunite with a
lost love from his childhood.
Skip over this content
"Benjamin Button," "Frost/Nixon" and Meryl Streep's
"Doubt" all came in tied for the lead with five Globe nominations
and all went away empty-handed. The night belonged mainly to
non-A-listers and films below the radar.
Sally Hawkins, a British actress virtually unknown in America,
was chosen best actress in a comedy or musical as an eternal
optimist in "Happy-Go-Lucky." Colin Farrell took the comedy or
musical actor prize as a hit man in "In Bruges," a little-seen
movie released last winter. Mickey Rourke returned from the
wilderness to earn the Globe for best dramatic actor in "The
Wrestler," a film whose comeback theme paralleled the actor's own
journey back from Hollywood pariah.
"There ain't no quit in me," said Rourke, whose role as a
washed-up wrestler with one last shot at glory re-established him
as a viable star after he wrecked his career with bad behavior in
the 1990s. "I didn't care about repercussions, and I paid the
price for that. It took 13, 14 years for the doors to open up
again."
"The Wrestler" also won the best-song Globe for Bruce
Springsteen, who wrote the film's title tune.
Winslet, previously nominated five times without winning at both
the Globes and Oscars, won for her role as a woman in a crumbling
marriage in "Revolutionary Road" and as a former Nazi
concentration camp guard in "The Reader."
"Revolutionary Road" was directed by Winslet's husband, Sam
Mendes, and reunited her with her "Titanic" co-star Leonardo
DiCaprio.
Skip over this content
Golden Globes Winners 2009
Best Motion Picture - Drama
'Slumdog Millionaire'
Fox Searchlight
Best Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama
Mickey Rourke, 'The Wrestler'
Fox Searchlight
Best Actress in a Motion Picture - Drama
Kate Winslet, 'Revolutionary Road'
DreamWorks
Best Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture
Heath Ledger, 'The Dark Knight'
Warner Bros.
Best Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture
Kate Winslet, 'The Reader'
Weinstein Co.
Best Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy
'Vicky Cristina Barcelona'
Weinstein Co.
Best Actor Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy
Colin Farrell, 'In Bruges'
Focus Features
Best Actress Motion Picture - Musical/Comedy
Sally Hawkins, 'Happy-Go-Lucky'
Miramax
Best Director - Motion Picture
Danny Boyle, 'Slumdog Millionaire'
Fox Searchlight
Best Animated Feature Film
'WALL-E'
Disney/Pixar
To DiCaprio, Winslet said: "I've loved you for 13 years and
your performance in this film is nothing short of spectacular." To
Mendes, she added: "Thank you for directing this film, babe, and
thank you for killing us every single day and really enjoying us
actually being in such horrific pain."
There was little surprise in the supporting-actor category.
Virtually since he died nearly a year ago, Ledger has been the name
on everyone's lips for that award.
Ledger won the prize for his diabolical turn as the Joker in the
Batman blockbuster "The Dark Knight," raising his chances to
become only the second actor to win a posthumous Oscar. The first
was Peter Finch, who won the best-actor Oscar for 1976's
"Network."
"Dark Knight" director Christopher Nolan accepted the Globe
for Ledger, who died last Jan. 22 from an accidental overdose of
prescription drugs. Oscar nominations come out on the one-year
anniversary of Ledger's death.
"All of us who worked with Heath on `The Dark Knight' accept
with an awful mixture of sadness but incredible pride," Nolan
said. "After Heath passed, you saw a hole ripped in the future of
cinema."
Among the stars Hawkins beat was Streep, who had a nomination
for musical or comedy actress for "Mamma Mia!" Backstage, Hawkins
said that as she walked up to accept her Globe, Streep asked,
"`Are you happy now?' Yes, Meryl, I'm happy."