Christopher Nolan’s “Oppenheimer” reigned supreme at the 2024 Golden Globes, taking home all six prizes awarded – drama film as well as acting wins for Cillian Murphy and Robert Downey Jr. Their triumph overshadowed Greta Gerwig’s Barbie which led with nominations but only received two prizes at this year’s ceremony.
Cillian Murphy stars as J. Robert Oppenheimer, an esteemed theoretical physicist known as the father of the atomic bomb.
Oppenheimer Best Picture
Christopher Nolan’s period-biopic of J. Robert Oppenheimer, who headed up the Manhattan Project that produced the first nuclear weapon, won top honors at Sunday night’s Golden Globe Awards and confirmed its place as an Oscar frontrunner. Additionally, director, actor and supporting actress awards were handed out to this film.
Cillian Murphy won an award for playing Oppenheimer, who was so thin people described him as almost “ethereal,” an attempt by him to demonstrate his dedication to science, as the actor stated during the onstage presentation.
Anatomy of a Fall, winner of Cannes Palme d’Or at Cannes Film Festival and best foreign language movie at the Golden Globe Awards this year, became the first non-English winner since Golden Globe awards began back in 1944.
Other winners included Netflix shows Poor Things, Killers of the Flower Moon, Maestro, and Past Lives – see here for the complete list of winners.
Best Director
Christopher Nolan won a tight competition between heavyweight directors such as Bradley Cooper (Maestro), Greta Gerwig (Barbie), Yorgos Lanthimos (Poor Things) and Martin Scorsese (Killers of the Flower Moon) to take home his third Golden Globe for best director in 2024 with Oppenheimer, an biopic that chronicles J. Robert Oppenheimer’s lead on Manhattan Project which created first atomic bomb.
Nolan won his first Golden Globe and sixth nomination – both were for work done on The Dark Knight Rises project – as well as being nominated for an Academy Award nomination.
Nolan’s win makes him the only male director to take home this award since Barbra Streisand won for Yentl in 1983. Voters for this year’s awards included 300 journalists from 76 countries around the globe who represent Penske Media Eldridge (a joint venture between Penske Media Corporation and Eldridge that also owns IndieWire) as opposed to previous Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPPA)-supported HFPAA voters who now vote anonymously online. Dick Clark Productions produced this year’s show which was owned by Penske Media Eldridge (Hollywood Foreign Press Association and Eldridge) since their longstanding backing was replaced by new organization which welcomed 300 journalists representing HFPA voting eligibility requirements from members across 76 nations around the globe represented by 300 journalists representing HFPPA as its longtime backer Hollywood Foreign Press Association was replaced with new group which represented by 300 journalists representing 75 countries! HTFPA finally left Hollywood Foreign Press Association to make way for new organization which represents all categories: HFA is now owned by Penske Media Eldridge which owns IndieWire as well.
Best Performance by an Actor
Robert Oppenheimer has become the global emblem of scientists caught between scientific work they perform and ethical dilemmas it can create. He was also seen as an intellectual who found themselves the subject of harassment; during his last years of life he spent developing ideas on how to combine science and society.
Oppenheimer was the son of Jewish immigrants and studied at New York’s Ethical Culture School – an institution promoting rationalism – before going on to Harvard in three years with distinction in Latin, Greek, physics, chemistry and literature studies. Following a stint at Cavendish Laboratory in Cambridge England (which rejected him due to JJ Thomson) with no offer from JJ Thomson to be his mentor; Max Born invited him to go further in Germany where they agreed upon Max Born as mentor instead.
At the height of McCarthyism, when anti-Communist zealots scourged every corner for evidence of Communist agents, Oppenheimer was accused of harboring communist sympathies and had his security clearance taken away; although he accepted the decision without protest, his influence over science policy declined significantly as a result of it.
Best Supporting Actor
Christopher Nolan’s Atom Bomb biopic won top honors at this year’s Golden Globe Awards, taking home all drama awards with lead drama actor Cillian Murphy winning and supporting actor Robert Downey Jr. being honored for their roles. Additionally, Nolan won both best director and best screenplay awards.
Downey, 58, has previously received two Golden Globe Awards for his roles on Ally McBeal and in movies such as Sherlock Holmes; this marks his first win as top movie actor prize recipient for playing Lewis Strauss of the Atomic Energy Commission who threatened J. Robert Oppenheimer’s security clearance.
Strauss was an intriguing character who believed both in the moral necessity of scientific research as well as its potential destructive force. At the height of McCarthyism in 1954, during which his leftist political associations and opposition to development of a hydrogen bomb caused him to lose his security clearance; President Lyndon Johnson later honored him with the Enrico Fermi Award as recognition of his achievements.
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