ELECTION 99
COLUMNISTS
DIARY
SPECIALS
INTERVIEWS
CAPITAL BUZZ
REDIFF POLL
DEAR REDIFF
THE STATES
YEH HAI INDIA!
ELECTIONS
ARCHIVES

Search Rediff

Golden Globe snubs Earth

Arthur J Pais

Deepa Mehta's Earth, India's official nominee for the foreign film Oscar nomination, was ignored by the Golden Globe awards.

The Globes given out by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association are often indicators of Oscar nominations. Last year, Shakespeare in Love, the multiple Oscar winner, walked away with the Golden Globe for best musical or comedy picture.

The five foreign film nominees in the Oscar could also give Earth a tough time in the race. The movies are: Aimee & Jaguar from Germany; All About My Mother from Spain; East-West and Girl on the Bridge, both from France and The Red Violin from Canada.

Earth has been generally well received by critics, but the Los Angeles Times gave it the thumbs down. The movie, which grossed an impressive $ 500,000 at North American theaters, did not go well with many foreign press members. Insiders said many voters expected a film like Mira Nair's Salaam Bombay.

"Some voters thought the film was too glamorous in many places," said a source. "They also found it too long and the musical interludes did not go down well."

But more important, said the source, the politics in the movie was a bit too much for many members. "They were getting too confused with various religions and sects."

Om Puri, whose performance in My Son the Fanatic as a downbeat Pakistani immigrant in England received strong reviews in America, was also ignored. The film was a box-office disaster in North America, and was out of most cities in about three weeks.

But Manoj Night Shyamalan's The Sixth Sense won two nominations, though not in the major categories.

Haley Joel Osment, who gave a mesmerizing, haunting performance as a troubled child who can see dead people, was nominated in the supporting actor category. He will have to vie with several veterans including Tom Cruise. His rivals: Michael Caine in The Cider House Rules, Cruise in Magnolia, Michael Clarke Duncan in The Green Mile and Jude Law in The Talented Mr Ripley.

Shyamalan, who coscripted this week's Number 1 box-office champ, Stuart Little, was nominated for the best screenplay for The Sixth Sense. This is his first major nomination.

He faces competition from: Alan Ball for American Beauty; John Irving for The Cider House Rules; Charlie Kaufman for Being John Malkovich and Eric Roth and Michael Mann for The Insider.

Meanwhile, The Sixth Sense has reached $ 475 million worldwide and is expected to top $ 500 million by the end of the year.

Next: Arrests Promised In Air-India Blast Case

Tell us what you think of this report