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BEVERLY HILLS, California - The searing cultural drama Babel and the uplifting musical Dreamgirls won the top Golden Globe awards today, making them instant front-runners in Hollywood's Oscar race.
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Dreamgirls, which follows the rise of three women singers and closely resembles the ascendancy of all-girl groups like The Supremes, won three awards. The Dreamgirls bounty was more than any other film and it included the trophies for best musical or comedy, as well as best supporting actor and actress for Eddie Murphy and Jennifer Hudson, respectively.
Hudson fought back tears in accepting her award. "Oh, my God. Thank you so much," she said. "Wow. I have always dreamed but never, ever this big. This goes far beyond anything I could ever have imagined."
Babel, a story of cultural differences and communication failures across borders, earned only one award but it was a big one -- best film drama. It entered the Golden Globes as the most nominated movie with seven.
The movie's director, Mexico's Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, noted the long and trying journey he had made to get his movie made across three continents -- Africa, North America and Asia -- and in five different languages. He said Babel transcended borders with its gut-wrenching performances.
"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.
In other key awards, Martin Scorsese took home the prize for best director with his crime thriller The Departed. The Scorsese film came into the show as the second most nominated movie with six and it will continue to be a factor in this year's Oscar race as it has been a darling of critics.
The Golden Globe awards, which are voted on by nearly 90 members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, are a major stop on the road to the February 25 Academy Awards because winners here often go on to compete for Oscars, which are given out by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
BORAT IS BLESSED
In other key awards, Forest Whitaker won the award for best actor in a film drama for his portrayal of former Ugandan dictator Idi Amin in The Last King of Scotland. Britain's Helen Mirren won two trophies, best actress in a film drama for playing Queen Elizabeth II in The Queen and best actress in a television mini-series or TV movie in Elizabeth I.
British comedian Sacha Baron Cohen, who plays a dimwitted reporter in Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan, was given the award for best actor in a film musical or comedy.
In his characteristically dry manner, Cohen thanked his co-star, Ken Davitian, who sat on his face in a naked wrestling match in the film.
"I was faced with a choice -- death or to breathe in the air that had been trapped in a small pocket between his buttocks for 30 years," Cohen joked. "Kenneth, if it was not for that rancid bubble, I would not be here, today."
In the other top film honour, Meryl Streep won the award for best actress in a comedy for her portrayal of a wicked fashion editor in The Devil Wears Prada. It was sixth Golden Globe of Streep's career.
Also taking home a film award was Peter Morgan, who won for best screenplay with The Queen. Cars was named best animated film. The Song of the Heart from Happy Feet won for best original song in a film and Alexandre Desplat earned the award for best movie score for The Painted Veil.
While the movie awards are the show's highlight, Golden Globe voters also give out awards for US television shows, and in that arena, new US series Ugly Betty was picked as best TV comedy, and its star, America Ferrera, was best actress in a comedy.
Finally, best TV drama went to hospital show Grey's Anatomy, and Elizabeth I was named best mini-series or TV movie.
- REUTERS
