The movie prize season kicks off with honors for the A24 drama and for the star of “The Unknown Country” (who’s better known for “Killers of the Flower Moon”).
“Past Lives,” the elegiac drama about a young Korean immigrant and the path not taken, won best feature as the 33rd annual Gotham Awards were handed out Monday night in New York.
The ceremony was not without controversy. As Robert De Niro was paying tribute to “Killers of the Flower Moon,” in which he co-starred, the actor said his anti-Trump comments had been removed from his speech without his knowledge when it was added to the Telepromptr. “The beginning of my speech was edited, cut out, I didn’t know about it,” he told the audience at Cipriani Wall Street. “And I want to read it.” He went on to note that “history isn’t history anymore, truth is not truth, even facts are being replaced by alternative facts.”
But the evening largely stayed focused on the films themselves, like “Past Lives,” from Celine Song. It stars Greta Lee as a married writer in New York who reconnects with her childhood sweetheart from South Korea.
Outstanding lead performance went to Lily Gladstone but not for “Killers of the Flower Moon,” her big-budget breakthrough. She was honored for her turn in “The Unknown Country,” about a woman who embarks on a road trip after the grandmother she was caring for passes away.
Other winners included Charles Melton, the former “Riverdale” star at the burning heart of the Todd Haynes drama “May December.”
“Anatomy of a Fall,” the Justine Triet courtroom drama that won the top prize at Cannes, took home best international feature and best screenplay for its examination of a marriage after a man dies in a family’s remote home in the French Alps.
The prizes, sponsored by the Gotham Film & Media Institute, serve as the kickoff to the film awards season, which culminates in the Oscars next year. In addition to the competitive honors, the Gothams paid tribute to Ben Affleck, Bradley Cooper, Greta Gerwig, Michael Mann and George C. Wolfe.
Here is a complete list of winners:
Best feature: “Past Lives”
Outstanding lead performance: Lily Gladstone, “The Unknown Country”
Outstanding supporting performance: Charles Melton, “May December”
Best documentary feature: “Four Daughters”
Best international feature: “Anatomy of a Fall”
Best screenplay: “Anatomy of a Fall”
Breakthrough director: A.V. Rockwell
Breakthrough series (over 40 minutes): “A Small Light”
Breakthrough series (under 40 minutes): “Beef”
Outstanding performance in a new series: Ali Wong, “Beef”
Source: Movies - nytimes.com
