After causing a sensation at Cannes, “Emilia Perez” tests its ability to charm Hollywood: Jacques Audiard’s musical odyssey about the gender transition of a Mexican drug trafficker is the favorite of the Golden Globes on Sunday, with 10 nominations.
Best comedy, best director, best actress for Karla Sofía Gascón in the title role, best supporting actress for Zoe Saldaña and Selena Gomez, best screenplay… This French film broadcast and promoted by Netflix has real chances in all categories major.
“It’s a real musical comedy, which appealed to people,” greets AFP Pete Hammond, of the specialist site Deadline.
Filmed mainly in Spanish, the feature film also competes in the categories of best international film, best soundtrack, and best song – two nominations. His harvest will indicate his potential for the Oscars in March.
According to Pete Hammond, his main competition for the best comedy prize remains the Cannes Palme d’Or “Anora”, where Sean Baker chronicles the trials of a young prostitute from Brooklyn.
Holiday commercial hit, “Wicked” appears “at a disadvantage,” with only four nominations for this adaptation of a Broadway musical.
But Pete Hammond believes that his star Cynthia Erivo, “spectacular” as a witch from “The Wizard of Oz” opposite singer Ariana Grande, could steal the show from Karla Sofía Gascón.
The transgender actress of “Emilia Perez” “remains a newcomer” to Hollywood, just like Mikey Madison, the interpreter of “Anora”, he recalls.
– The French “outsider” “The Substance” –
Another French film, “The Substance”, is an “outsider”, notes the columnist.
This horrific fable by Coralie Fargeat, where Demi Moore plays a former Hollywood glory addicted to a youth serum, has five nominations, notably in the categories of best comedy, best direction and best actress in a comedy.
A macabre tale about the dictates of eternal youth, the film “will resonate in Hollywood”, judges Pete Hammond.
The Golden Globes have reformed in recent years, after the vast scandal revealed in 2021 on the corruption and racism of their members. Their jury has notably become much larger and more diverse.
The ceremony is “less predictable” and “definitely more international”, observes Pete Hammond. “They are more open to different genres of films.”
The drama categories, traditionally separated from comedies by the Golden Globes, also reflect this evolution.
The Canadian film “The Brutalist”, a portrait of a Holocaust survivor architect trying to rebuild his life in the United States, received seven nominations. He is aiming for the best dramatic film prize, but will notably have to get rid of the papal thriller “Conclave”, nominated in six categories.
– “Crowded best actress category” –
The stars of both films, Adrien Brody and Ralph Fiennes – brilliant as a cardinal embroiled in the Vatican’s shenanigans to elect a new pope – face off for the title of best actor in a drama film.
A race which also includes Timothée Chalamet, for his remarkable incarnation of Bob Dylan in “A Perfect Stranger”.
But this year, it is for actresses that the Golden Globes have the most importance, three days before voting for Oscar nominations closes.
Already fierce on the comedy side, the competition is just as fierce on the drama side.
Angelina Jolie shines with her interpretation of the singer Maria Callas in “Maria”, Nicole Kidman impresses as a woman of power with troubled sexuality in “Babygirl”, and Fernanda Torres moves as a widow devoted to her children under the Brazilian dictatorship of the 70s, in “I’m Still Here”.
Without forgetting Kate Winslet, who lends her features to the war photographer “Lee Miller”, or Pamela Anderson, surprising as a revue dancer overtaken by age in “The Last Showgirl”.
The Oscars, which do not separate dramas from comedies, will only select five actresses.
“The best actress category is so crowded that some people who probably would have won in another year won’t even be nominated,” observes Pete Hammond. “That’s where the Golden Globes can really help.”
The 82nd edition of the Golden Globes begins at 5 p.m. in Beverly Hills (Monday at 2 a.m. GMT). Comedian Nikki Glaser will be the first woman to present the ceremony solo.
