Golden Globe nominations 2022: Belfast and The Power of the Dog lead the pack
In one of the more unexpected comebacks of the year, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association has announced the nominations for its 79th awards ceremony, to be held on 9 January – but not screened on television after broadcaster NBC terminated the contract.
Belfast, Kenneth Branagh’s blackand-white drama set in his hometown during the Troubles, has seven nominations, as does The Power of the Dog, Jane Campion’s sexually-charged western set in 1920s Montana.
Branagh and Campion are vying for best director and best screenplay, while their films are up for best drama. Benedict Cumberbatch is nominated for best leading actor for his role as an aggressive cattle rancher in Campion’s film, while his co-star, Kodi Smit-McPhee, is up for best supporting actor alongside Belfast’s Ciaran Hinds and Jamie Dornan.
In the supporting actress category, Kirsten Dunst represents Campion’s film, while Caitriona Balfe is there for Belfast. Jonny Greenwood’s score completes The Power of the Dog’s nominations, while Van Morrison’s Down to Joy gives Belfast a shot at best original song.
Don’t Look Up, Adam McKay’s apocalypse satire, which opened to mixed reviews over the weekend, picked up four nominations, for best comedy or musical, McKay’s screenplay and for its stars, Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Lawrence. Steven Spielberg’s remake of West Side Story also took four, as did King Richard, in which Will Smith plays the father of Venus and Serena Williams.
Cooper Hoffman, the 18-year-old son of Philip Seymour Hoffman, is up for best actor in a comedy or musical for his debut screen role in Paul Thomas Anderson’s coming-of-age comedy, Licorice Pizza. The musician Alana Haim, another first-timer who stars alongside Hoffman in the film, is up for the equivalent actress category; Anderson’s screenplay is also nominated, and the film is up for best musical or comedy.
Olivia Colman, who won the actress in a musical or comedy award in 2019 for The Favourite, is this year in contention for best actress in a drama, for Maggie Gyllenhaal’s adaptation of the Elena Ferrante novel The Lost Daughter. She competes against Kristen Stewart, who plays Princess Diana in Spencer, Jessica Chastain for televangelist tragedy The Eyes of Tammy Faye, Nicole Kidman as Lucille Ball in Being the Ricardos and Lady Gaga in Ridley Scott’s true crime hit, House of Gucci.
Andrew Garfield is nominated for best actor in a comedy or musical as Rent creator Jonathan Larson in tick, tick … Boom!, while Irish actor Ruth Negga is up for best supporting actress for her role in Rebecca Hall’s Passing.
Succession is scorecard leader in the TV categories, with nominations for best drama series as well as stars Brian Cox, Jeremy Strong, Kieran Culkin and Sarah Snook. Nods for Jennifer Aniston and Billy Crudup helped The Morning Show to four nominations, a number also achieved by Ted Lasso.
Squid Game’s three nominations ensured Netflix retained its position as by far the strongest studio at this stage; the outfit is also behind The Power of the Dog and Don’t Look Up. It achieved 12 nominations more than its closest competitor.
The list was announced on Monday by Snoop Dogg and newly appointed HFPA president Helen Hoehne. In her opening address Hoehne made reference to her organisation’s tumultuous year and some eight months of attempting “to be better”.
The HFPA has long been tainted by accusations of scandal and corruption but in February 2021 an investigation by the Los Angeles Times revealed an organisation plagued by infighting and also revealed that not one of the 87 members, hailing from around 55 countries, was Black.
The lack of diversity looked likely to be the final straw for the beleaguered body, particularly viewed in contrast to the organisations which decide the Oscars and Baftas, whose efforts to increase diversity have led to their numbers recently swelling to almost 10,000 and 6,500, respectively.
Hollywood publicists cut ties with the HFPA shortly after the investigation was published, as did broadcasters, including NBC, who had long screened the event. Tom Cruise returned his three trophies and numerous stars vowed to boycott proceedings until substantial change was made.
The HFPA responded by attempting to fast-track an overhaul, appointing Hoehne, as well as a law firm to look into corruption allegations, rewriting its rules and charter and changing its board of governors. In April, they expelled former president Philip Berk from the organisation after he circulated an article to fellow members calling Black Lives Matter a “racist hate movement”.
In October they announced the appointment of 21 new members, primarily Black, and the intention of adding a further 30 within the next 18 months.