Golden Globes 2019: Bohemian Rhapsody, Rami Malek, Christian Bale, Glenn Close win top honours

Queen biopic Bohemian Rhapsody  pulled a major upset at the Golden Globes , taking home two top prizes – Best Drama Film and Best Actor for Rami Malek, who played the band’s frontman Freddie Mercury.

Meanwhile, civil rights dramedy Green Book  took home three prizes overall and Mexican filmmaker Alfonso Cuaron’s heartlfelt Roma  won two Globes.

Hollywood hit the red carpet on the night of 7 January for the annual awards, with hit musical romance A Star Is Born the favourite to win big, but only managing the Best Original Song for the breakout hit ‘Shallow’, by Lady Gaga.

Nevertheless, the prizes demonstrated an industry keen to tout its progress on diversity.

Under a bright California sun, Tinseltown’s A-listers worked the red carpet at the Beverly Hilton. Many wore Time’s Up bracelets in a nod to the movement for sexual equality in the workplace that grabbed the headlines 12 months ago, as the industry became engulfed in a reckoning about rampant harassment and abuse.

Hosting the gala were comedian Andy Samberg and actress Sandra Oh, who made history as the first Asian woman to have hosted a major awards show while also taking home her second Globe for Killing Eve.

As the only awards show where booze is served, the evening is usually more colourful than showbiz’s other big nights.

But the presenters set the tone for a less edgy night than in previous years, with a relatively tame opening that gave more time to complimenting the nominees than assailing them with “roast”-style jokes.

Samberg paid tribute to the diversity among the slate of films up for awards, singling out Black Panther , Crazy Rich Asians , If Beale Street Could Talk and several others praised for their inclusivity.

“And they are not just here tonight because they resonated with audiences Hollywood often ignores,” he said. “They are here because they told stories that resonated with everyone. And that is truly a beautiful thing.”

Crazy Rich Asians, which was nominated for Best Film in a Musical and Comedy, as well as for Best Actress (Constance Wu), did not win in either categories. But the Globes for supporting acting in movies went to two African Americans – Regina King (If Beale Street Could Talk) and Mahershala Ali (Green Book).

King vowed that, for the next two years, she would only produce projects that employ 50 percent women, exclaiming: “Time’s Up times two!” “And I just challenge anyone out there – anyone out there who is in a position of power, not just in our industry, in all industries – I challenge you to challenge yourselves, and stand with us in solidarity and do the same,” she said.

This year, the Globes come at the start of voting for Oscar nominations, and while they are not always a clear predictor of Academy Award success, they are a bellwether of momentum.

If there was a sure bet on Sunday night, it was Alfonso Cuaron’s Roma, a cinematic ode to his childhood in 1970s Mexico City, which won Best Foreign Film and a Best Director statuette for the filmmaker. “Cinema at its best builds bridges to other cultures,” Cuaron told the audience. “We need to understand how much we have in common.”

Unlike the Oscars, the Golden Globes have parallel categories for dramas and musical/comedy films – meaning two times the prizes, and a chance for Oscar voters to consider a wider range of performances.

For Best Actor in a Drama, Cooper – who plays an aging rocker who discovers a struggling singer-songwriter (Gaga) and propels her to stardom in A Star Is Born – lost out to Rami Malek, who portrays Queen frontman Freddie Mercury in Bohemian Rhapsody.

Christian Bale, nearly unrecognizable as Cheney, took home Best Actor honors.  “Thank you to Satan for giving me inspiration for playing this role,” he said, deadpan.

THE WINNERS’ LIST

FILM

Best Film, Drama: Bohemian Rhapsody

Best Film, Musical or Comedy: Green Book

Best Actor, Drama: Rami Malek, Bohemian Rhapsody

Best Actress, Drama: Glenn Close, The Wife

Best Actor, Musical or Comedy: Christian Bale, Vice

Best Actress, Musical or Comedy: Olivia Colman, The Favourite

Best Supporting Actor: Mahershala Ali, Green Book

Best Supporting Actress: Regina King, If Beale Street Could Talk

Best Director: Alfonso Cuaron, Roma

Best Foreign Language Film: Roma (Mexico)

Best Screenplay: Green Book (Nick Vallelonga, Brian Currie and Peter Farrelly)

Best Original Song: ‘Shallow’ from A Star Is Born (Lady Gaga, Mark Ronson, Anthony Rossomando and Andrew Wyatt)

Best Animated Feature: Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse

TELEVISION

Best Drama Series: The Americans (FX)

Best Drama Actor: Richard Madden, Bodyguard

Best Drama Actress: Sandra Oh, Killing Eve

Best Musical or Comedy Series: The Kominsky Method (Netflix)

Best Musical or Comedy Actor: Michael Douglas, The Kominsky Method

Best Musical or Comedy Actress: Rachel Brosnahan, The Marvelous Mrs Maisel

Best Supporting Actor (all categories): Ben Whishaw, A Very English Scandal

Best Limited Series or TV Movie: The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story (FX)

Best Limited Series or TV Movie Actor: Darren Criss, The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story

Best Limited Series or TV Movie Actress: Patricia Arquette, Escape at Dannemora