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It may not have been surprising that Scorsese’s mob epic, democratised to the film-watching public thanks to Netflix, was named the Best Film of 2019 by the New York Film Critic Circle (NYFCC) today.
In addition to the top award, the film also received a Best Supporting Actor win for Joe Pesci, proving that Scorsese retains his title as king of the screen. Other winners included Bong Joon-ho’s Parasite for Best Foreign Language Film and Claire Mathon for Portrait of a Lady on Fire (Best Cinematography).
Awards included the categories of Best Film, Director, First Film, Actor, Actress — all the usual. One of the figures that received the most buzz this festival was Laura Dern, who garnered wins for performances in two notable headliners: Noah Baumbach’s Marriage Story and Greta Gerwig’s Little Women. It’s unusual to see two wins for different films in the same category, but if anyone is pleased with this situation it’ll be Gerwig, whose solo directorial debut Lady Bird also won Best Film and Best Actress for Saoirse Ronan in 2017.
The Safdie brothers were named the winners of the prestigious Best Director(s) award for Uncut Gems, a film generating mixed reviews but which nevertheless remains a fixture of the A24 roster. Other winners included Lupita Nyong’o for Us (Best Actress), Antonio Banderas for Almodovar’s Pain and Glory (Best Actor); and Once Upon A Time…In Hollywood (Best Screenplay).
In addition to these were two Special Awards, which were offered this year to Randy Newman (I can likely attribute this to his thematically Pixar-inspired score for Marriage Story); with the second award going to Indie Collect.
The annual accolades might be seen as an inevitable precursor to next year’s Academy Awards, but they also have the benefit of a little more critical distance to their subjects. To give an idea of the importance of the awards, they’ve been running since 1935 and the ceremony — which will take place on January 7th at the New York Film Critics’ annual gala — will be the 85th celebration.
For a full rundown of this year’s winners, take a look at the list below:
Best Film: The Irishman
Best Director: Benny and Josh Safdie, Uncut Gems
Best First Film: Atlantics, Mati Diop
Best Actor: Antonio Banderas, Pain and Glory
Best Actress: Lupita Nyong’o, Us
Best Supporting Actor: Joe Pesci, The Irishman
Best Supporting Actress: Laura Dern for Marriage Story and Little Women
Best Non-Fiction Film: Honeyland
Best Screenplay: Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood, Quentin Tarantino
Best Cinematography: Portrait of a Lady on Fire, Claire Mathon
Best Foreign Language Film: Parasite
Best Animated Film: I Lost My Body
Special Award: Randy Newman
Special Award: Indie Collect
New York Film Critics Circle Names ‘Irishman’ Best Film of 2019 [Variety]
