The new Neil Jordan film, The End of the Affair, has been nominated for best picture and for best director in the annual Golden Globe awards, which were announced in Los Angeles yesterday. Alan Parker's film Angela's Ashes was nominated for best music score.
Presented by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, the awards are regarded as a good indicator towards the Oscar nominations which follow in February.
Set in London during the second World War, The End of the Affair was adapted by Jordan from the novel by Graham Greene and features Ralph Fiennes as a novelist who falls in love with a married woman, played by Julianne Moore. She has been nominated for best actress (drama) for her performance in the film, as has Michael Nyman for his music for the film. The novel was first filmed in 1958 with Van Johnson and Deborah Kerr in the leading roles.
Leading the field with six Golden Globe nominations is American Beauty, a dark, subversive picture of American suburban life, which is the first film from the acclaimed English theatre director, Same Mendes, who was also nominated. The film received acting nominations for its two stars, Kevin Spacey and Annette Bening.
It was followed with five nominations each by the Patricia Highsmith adaptation, The Talented Mr Ripley, Anthony Minghella's first film since his Oscar-winning The English Patient, and Michael Mann's The Insider, the factually-based story of Geoffrey Wigand, a tobacco industry whistle-blower played by Russell Crowe.
The five nominees for best picture (drama) are American Beauty, The End of the Affair, The Hurricane, The Insider and The Talented Mr Ripley.
Nominated for best actor (drama) are Russell Crowe (The Insider), Matt Damon (The Talented Mr Ripley), Richard Farnsworth (The Straight Story), Kevin Spacey (American Beauty) and Denzel Washington (The Hurricane).
The nominees for best actress (drama) are Annette Bening (American Beauty), Hilary Swank (Boys Don't Cry), Julianne Moore (The End of the Affair), Meryl Streep (Music of the Heart) and Sigourney Weaver (A Map of the World).
Nominated for best picture (comedy) are Being John Malkovich, Man On The Moon, Notting Hill, Analyze This and Toy Story 2.
The 57th Golden Globe awards will be presented in Hollywood on January 23rd. The Oscar nominations will be announced on February 15th.