French film ‘Anatomy of a fall’ wins best screenplay, foreign film at Golden Globes

The French film ‘Anatomy of a fall’ won two Golden Globes at an awards ceremony dominated by the biopic 'Oppenheimer'.

French director Justine Triet, with two Golden Globe awards for her film 'Anatomy of a fall', which won two awards at the ceremony on 7 January 2024. © Amy Sussman/Getty Images via AFP

The story of the trial of a writer accused of murdering her husband, and the dissection of their complex marriage, was awarded best screenplay and best non-English language film at the awards ceremony Sunday night in Beverly Hills, California.

Director Justice Triet, who co-wrote the film with her husband, Arthur Harari, said had assumed that "nobody is going to see this movie" about "a couple fighting, suicide, a dog vomiting... I mean, come on!"

"This movie is about the truth, the impossibility of capturing it. It’s a construction," she added.

Not at the Oscars

The Golden Globes traditionally serve as a preview of the Academy Awards, but Anatomy of a fall, which won the top Palme d’Or award at Cannes, will not represent France for the best international film, with Passion, by Dodin Bouffant, a historical romance between two gastronomists, submitted instead.

The 2023 Golden Globes were a renewal for the institution, marked by ethics scandals in 2022, with a new group of 300 international journalists on the jury.

It is also the first time that top names in Hollywood gathered since the six month actor and writer’s strike that shut down the film and television industry last year.

Oppenheimer dominates

'Oppenheimer', the biopic of the American physicist who invented the atomic bomb, swept the Golden Globes, winning best dramatic film and its director, Christopher Nolan, best director.

Three other awards included best dramatic actor for Cillian Murphy, who played Robert Oppenheimer, and best supporting actor for Robert Downey Jr, as well as best original soundtrack.

‘Poor Creatures’, by Greek director Yorgos Lanthimos, won best comedy, pushing aside ‘Barbie’, which was nominated for nine awards.

Greta Gerwig’s feminist satire of the iconic American doll won two secondary awards: including a new one for best commercial success, and best song for Billie Eilish’s ‘What Was I Made For’.

(with newswires)