USA/FILE: "Brokeback Mountain" and "Walk the Line" are the big winners at the 2006 Golden Globe Awards in Beverly Hills

A heady mix of political drama and romance, both gay and straight, won major Golden Globe Awards on Monday (January 16) with "Brokeback Mountain" earning the best film drama prize and "Walk the Line" best musical or comedy. "Brokeback," which has wowed critics and found a sizable audience at box offices with its homosexual love story, walked off with four Golden Globes, more than any movie, including best director for Ang Lee, screenplay and song. The movie entered the show a favourite among its rivals after having been nominated in a leading seven categories, and it now becomes a clear front-runner for Oscars, the U.S. film industry's top awards that will be given out in March. But "Walk the Line," about the long love affair between singers Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash, may be a close No. 2. It earned three Golden Globes and won trophies for stars Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon as best actor and actress in musical or comedy, respectively. Felicity Huffman was named best actress in a film drama playing a man on the verge of a sex change in "Transamerica," and Philip Seymour Hoffman was named best film actor in a movie drama for his role as author Truman Capote in "Capote." Politics played a major role at the Golden Globes, too, especially early in the evening when George Clooney was named best supporting actor in a film playing a veteran CIA agent in Middle East oil drama "Syriana." "This is early, I haven't had a drink yet," Clooney joked when he took the stage to accept his award, the first award of the night. British actress Rachel Weisz was named best supporting actress in a film drama for her portrayal of a social activist in Africa in thriller "The Constant Gardener." Palestinian film "Paradise Now," which looks at why suicide bombers take their own lives and kill others, was named best foreign language film. Its director, Hany Abu-Assad, called the award "a recognition that the Palestinians deserve their liberty and equality unconditionally." Golden Globe winners are chosen annually by about 85 members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association and are widely watched as a measure of which movies will later vie for Oscars, the top U.S. film honours voted on by some 6,000 members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Golden Globe winners often go on to win Oscars, and the stars turned out for Monday's show in tuxedos, gowns and fine jewellery to wow viewers in some 172 countries around the world.

ITN Source | January 19, 2006

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