King's Speech leads British invasion at Golden Globes

by Natasha Senjanovic

14/12/2010 - The British invasion continues during this year’s awards season, with Tom Hooper’s The King's Speech [trailer, film focus] scooping up seven Golden Globes nominations in top categories, including Best Film Drama.

It is followed by The Fighter and The Social Network, with six nominations each, including for Best Film Drama along with The Black Swan and Christopher Nolan’s Inception.

UK directors Nolan and Hooper are also in the running for Best Director and Best Screenplay, as are award-winning English duo Simon Beaufoy and Danny Boyle, for 127 Hours [trailer].

Speech stars Colin Firth and Helena Bonham Carter picked up nods, respectively, for Best Actor and Best Supporting Actress, while two more Brits are up for Best Supporting Actor: Christian Bale (The Fighter) and Andrew Garfield (The Social Network).

As expected, Europeans fared well in the Best Foreign Language Film category, with three out of five nominations: The Concert [trailer, film focus] (France) by Radu Mihaileanu, I Am Love [trailer, film focus] (Italy) by Luca Guadagnino and In a Better World [trailer] (Denmark) by Susanne Bier (see interview). Also in the running are Alejandro González Iñárritu’s Mexican/Spanish co-production Biutiful [trailer] and Russian title The Edge by Alexei Uchitel.

The Illusionist [trailer, film focus] (France) by Oscar nominee Sylvain Chomet is the only European film vying for the Golden Globe for Best Animated Feature Film, while fellow Frenchman Alexandre Desplat, also no stranger to Golden Globe and Oscar nods, is nominated for Best Original Score, for The King’s Speech.

Oscar-winning German director Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck (The Lives of Others [trailer, film focus]) is up for the Best Movie Comedy or Musical prize, for the US/French/Italian co-production The Tourist [trailer].

Chosen by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, the Golden Globes and are often considered a strong indicator for the Oscar winners. The awards ceremony will held on January 16 in Los Angeles.