Before writing this article, a friend of mine asked how a major American cinematic event is related, by any measure, to Egyptian society. I mulled over his question for a minute and the answer was, eventually, quite clear to me. The Golden Globes, just like the Academy Awards, the Emmys, the American Music Awards have become an international event watched by millions of households around the world, including Egypt on our very own Nile Sat. They ve also become a very profitable revenue source for Arab networks like MBC 4 which own the rights to broadcast them. As much as I d like to deny it, I ve been an avid spectator of both the Oscars and the Globes for 17 years now. The awards ceremonies were an opportunity to see my favorite filmmakers and stars receiving the recognition I frantically hoped they would. But the excitement faded gradually. Now these shows are no more than another obligatory watch that has grown to be increasingly tedious. But this year promised to be different for several reasons: there was no clear winning contender for the best picture; the nominees were established filmmakers and performers competing with some of their best work in years. I bite my tongue whenever I'm tempted to brand a film "great but this year several films made me break the rule. Babel, Pan s Labyrinth, The Queen, Volver, The Departed, The Lives of Others, and, above all, Clint Eastwood s Letters From Iwo Jima, are magnificent works of art that have made this award season the best one in seven years. The Globes is the first major award ceremony of the cinematic year. Sadly the ceremony does not reflect the art it is celebrating. Like the past few years, the show was exceedingly predictable, with excruciatingly conventional speeches by most of the winners, offering a zero doze of entertainment - in short, it was a perfect cure insomnia. The celebration kicked off with one of the few high notes of the evening when last year s best supporting actor George Clooney announced Leonardo DiCaprio, nominated for best actor in The Departed and Blood Money, has won the best supporting "actress award. Justin Timberlake followed suit and declared the former Globe winner to be the recipient of the best song award. From that moment onwards, nothing has stirred any substantial excitement except for the Sacha Baron Cohen s uproarious acceptance speech for best actor in a comedy or a musical award for Borat. This movie was a life-changing experience, the British comedian said. I saw some amazing, invigorating parts of America. I saw some dark parts of America and some ugly parts of America. Some parts of America that have rarely seen the light of day. I refer of course to the anus and testicles of my co-star, Kenneth Davitian. Ken, when I was in that scene ... I thought to myself, I better win a bloody award for this. The big revelation of the night though was Babel s win for best drama. A difficult, sprawling emotional film of epic proportions; Alejandro González Iñárritu s third film doesn t have the commercial appeal of The Departed or the narrative spontaneity of The Queen and wasn t candidly considered as a favorite to win the honor. That s why it was such a pleasant surprise to watch a real masterpiece deservingly win this acknowledgment. In fact, nearly all winners deserved to win their bestowed prizes. Helen Mirren (two best actress's in a drama and a mini-series), Forest Whitaker (best actor in a drama), Meryl Streep (best actress in a musical/comedy) and Sacha Cohen gave the best performances in each of their categories. Jennifer Hudson s win for best supporting actress for Dreamgirls along with her co-star Eddie Murphy, who won best supporting actor, were excellent indeed but not the best of the year. Rinko Kikuchi s portrayal of a Japanese deaf girl with subdued pain is nothing short of stunning and Brad Pitt simply gives a tour-de-force, best of career performance in the same film. Dreamgirls, the best musical/comedy winner, is a feast-for-the-eye musical that, as good as it is, remains over-hyped. It s always nice to watch Martin Scorsese receiving the belated accolades he s always worthy of (he won best director for The Departed ). Yet, honestly, Clint Eastwood s Iwo Jima eclipsed Scorsese s most successful film of his career. Scorsese himself admitted that he d loved to have received the Oscar, and he, most probably, will this year, for his earlier, personal works. The Departed is a great film, but can hardly be compared with Taxi Driver, Mean Streets, Raging Bull, or Goodfellas. Eastwood though is redefining American history with his films. The 76 years old legend has won every award there is, was showered by commercial success for more than 30 years now and has nothing really to prove to anyone. Iwo Jima, the true story of the WW II battle between the Japanese and the Americans told from the point of the view of the former, is harrowing, heartbreaking piece of cinema embedded with the master s thoughtfulness and humanism. The film, which, odd enough, won best foreign language film at the Globes, isn t illegible for contending at the same category at the Oscars and judging by its persisting low profile, I would be flabbergasted if it s nominated for best picture next Tuesday when the nominations are revealed. Despite the triumph of Babel and Dreamgirls at the Globes, a clear frontrunner for the best picture Oscar race remains anybody s game. The key winners of the Globes will carry on their victorious march to another predictable, mind-numbing Oscars without Sacha Cohen s desperately required antics. Let s just hope for better speeches next February.
