New York, Dec. 5 (BUS): The New York Film Critics Circle has named “Drive My Car”, the three-hour epic Ryusuke Hamaguchi and Haruki Murakami’s short story adaptation, as the best film of the year.
Hamaguchi, about a widowed actor played by Hidetoshi Nishijima, has been widely acclaimed since its debut earlier in the year at the Cannes Film Festival, where it won the award for best screenplay. “Drive My Car”, which recently opened with a limited theatrical release, is Japan’s participation in the Oscars.
It is only the second time in the past four decades that critics’ highest honor has been awarded to a film in a language other than English. The other was Alfonso Cuaron’s “Rome” three years ago, according to the Associated Press.
Jane Campion’s Montana gothic drama “The Power of a Dog” topped all films with three awards. Campion won Best Director, Benedict Cumberbatch won Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor went to Kodi Smit-McPhee.
New York critics, as they usually do, spread their tributes around. Best Actress went to Lady Gaga for her role as Patrizia Reggiani in Ridley Scott’s House of Gucci. Catherine Hunter wins over her ghostly witch in Joel Coen’s upcoming Shakespearean adaptation, The Tragedy of Macbeth. Paul Thomas Anderson won Best Screenplay for his comedy Licorice Pizza.
Michael Rianda’s animated comedy “The Mitchells vs. the Machines” directed by Michael Rianda’s “The Mitchells vs. the Machines” Apocalypse has won the award for Best Animated Feature. The award for best cinematography went to Janusz Kamisinki for the revival of Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story. Adapted from Elena Ferrante, directed by Maggie Gyllenhaal, The Lost Daughter won Best Debut Film. Best Documentary Film went to Jonas Poeher Rasmussen’s Animated Refugee Tale “Flee”. Joachim Trier’s “The Worst Person in the World,” a historical film about youth and love set in Oslo, Norway, won Best Foreign Language Film.
The group also announced several special awards: Maya Kidd, for creating the Black Film Archive, a catalog of black films from 1915 to 1979 available online; the late Diane Wehrman, a film executive who helped produce documentaries on social issues such as “An Inconvenient Truth” and “Citizen Four”; and Marshall Fine, film critic and general manager of NYFCC.
The New York Film Critics Circle, founded in 1935, will present its 89th award during a ceremony on January 10. Last year, the group chose Kelly Richardt’s “First Cow” as their best film. The year before that, she chose Martin Scorsese’s “The Irishman.”