Six Golden Globe nominations for the film “Mank” produced by Netflix

The film Mank raced for the top nominations for one of the most coveted awards in American cinema. David Fincher’s feature film, produced by Netflix and directed in black and white, is nominated in six categories, including Best Dramatic Film, at the Golden Globes.

Released in early December, Mank explores the golden age of Hollywood by following screenwriter Herman J. Mankiewicz, played by Gary Oldman, and the creation of the famous film Citizen Kane by Orson Welles.

David Fincher has worked inside the Hollywood system since his early days, but the filmmaker operates in a self-sufficient fashion to gain full control over the making of his films, including their poster and marketing. At Netflix, a company with which he has just signed an exclusivity agreement for four years, the director has found a structure capable of financing his experiments.

Another Netflix feature film, Chicago Seven, Aaron Sorkin, comes in second with five nominations. The Golden Globes are a major indicator of films and actors with a good chance of obtaining the famous golden statuette of the Oscars.

22 selections against 17 last year for Netflix

The awards season in Hollywood is shaken up this year by the Covid-19 pandemic and the postponement of many big productions. The absence of sizes has made, as expected, the game of feature films of streaming platforms which have visibly benefited from the confinement: Netflix garners 22 selections, against 17 last year, while its competitor Amazon Prime is climbing in second place (7 nominations) with a hat-trick for One Night in Miami and Borat 2. In the running for his portrayal of the fictional Kazakh journalist, Briton Sacha Baron Cohen has landed a second nomination for the very serious Chicago Seven.

The 2021 nominations podium is completed by The Father, adaptation of the play by Frenchman Florian Zeller with Anthony Hopkins, Nomadland by Chloe Zhao and Promising Young Woman Emerald Fennel, with four nominations each. Feminist thriller against the backdrop of the #metoo movement, Promising Young Woman was selected in the categories of Best Dramatic Feature, Best Director, Screenplay and Best Actress for Carey Mulligan. The latter will have on her way Frances McDormand for Nomadland and Viola Davis for Ma Rainey’s Blues.

On the men’s side, the late Chadwick Boseman, made world famous by Black panther, is also nominated for this film on the middle of the blues in Chicago of the 1920s. In this category very disputed this year, we find heavyweights like Anthony Hopkins and Gary Oldman, as well as the French Tahar Rahim, noticed in Designated guilty, by Kevin Macdonald.

The majority directors

Last year, the Golden Globes, awarded by some 90 members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, came under heavy criticism for totally snubbing women in the category of “Best director” for a movie film. Chloe Zhao, Emerald Fennel and Regina King (One Night in Miami) have, this year, carved out a place in this category, where they are therefore in the majority, alongside David Fincher and Aaron Sorkin. Until this 78^e edition, only five women had made their way into this prominent category.

In the category of foreign films, Minari, which features an American family of Korean descent moving to the countryside, could experience the same success as Parasite last year. We also find there Of them, love story between two lesbians in their seventies which intelligently oscillates between intimate film and thriller, chosen by France to defend its colors at the Oscars.

In the long list of nominations for television, Netflix still dominates head and shoulders with 20 selections against seven to its challenger HBO. The British royal family wins with The Crown and six nominations, ahead Welcome to Schitt’s Creek. The awards will be presented on February 28, during a virtual ceremony from Beverly Hills, nearly two months behind the usual schedule but still before the votes for the selection to the Oscars have started.