Yahoo Lifestyle ‘The Brutalist’s Brady Corbet Pays Tribute To Jeff Baena, Kevin Turen After Winning Best Director Golden Globe
Brady Corbet, whose post-World War II epic The Brutalist has been racking up wins on the awards circuit since its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival, won Best Director on Sunday at the Golden Globes.
Corbet, who won the same honor at Venice, beat out a stacked nominees list tonight that included Jacques Audiard (Emilia Pérez), Sean Baker (Anora), Edward Berger (Conclave), Coralie Fargeat (The Substance) and Payal Kapadia (All We Imagine as Light).
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The film would go on to win two more Globes tonight: Best Actor in a Drama for Adrien Brody and Best Picture – Drama, a victory that solidified is at an Oscar front-running as the awards season gets fully underway.
In his Best Director acceptance speech, Corbet thanked the Globes for the win that gives his film additional visibility, which “is extraordinarily meaningful for a film like this that once, a few short months ago, had the odds very much stacked against it.”
The pic from A24, Corbet’s third feature, centers on Brody’s László Toth, a Brutalist architect from Hungary attempting to rebuild his life in postwar America. Initially forced to toil in poverty, he soon wins a contract that will change the course of the next 30 years of his life. The pic, which is 3 hours and 35 minutes, hit theaters December 20 and has grossed $1.77 million globally to date.
The cast also includes Felicity Jones, Guy Pearce, Joe Alwyn, Raffey Cassidy, Stacy Martin, Emma Laird, Isaach De Bankolé and Alessandro Nivola.
The Brutalist came into the night with a total of seven Globes nominations, second most among films, after scoring seven Critics Choice nominations including for Best Director and Best Picture. Corbet is also up for Best Director at the Independent Spirit Awards.
Later during his speech, Corbet paid tribute to “three people that I lost while making this picture. My grandfather, James; my dear friend [Euphoria producer] Kevin Turen, who I miss every day — I wouldn’t be standing here tonight if it were not for their influence. And finally, tonight, my heart is with Aubrey Plaza and Jeff [Baena]‘s family.”
The reference to Baena comes two days after Baena, who is married to Plaza, took his own life at age 47.
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