Goya Nominations: "The Good Boss" sets a record and Javier Bardem vies for a 7th win.

by Nathaniel R

Spain's Oscar submission, The Good Boss, starring Javier Bardem has set an all time record, securing a huge 20 nominations (!) at the 36th annual Goya Awards including 75% of the nominees in the Best Supporting Actor category. Pedro Almodóvar's new feature Parallel Mothers, which also has Oscar dreams, was in a distant third place with 8 nominations at Spain's own Oscars-like event.

All the nominations, the two you can see in the US this month, and a little commentary after the jump...

BEST PICTURE

Director & Muse together again for "Parallel Mothers"

• “The Good Boss,” (Fernando León de Aranoa) - 20 nominations
  A dark comedy about a boss trying to win an award for excellence. 
• “Libertad,” (Clara Roquet) - 6 nominations
  A coming of age drama about two teenage girls on summer holiday
• “Parallel Mothers,” (Pedro Almodóvar) - 8 nominations
  A drama about two women whose live intertwine dramatically after they give birth
• “Maixabel,” (Iciar Bollain) - 14 nominations
  A widow agrees to meet with the imprisoned assassin who killed her husband
• “Mediterráneo,” (Marcel Barrena) - 5 nominations
  A true story drama about heroes saving lives in the Mediterranean Sea.

All three of the former finalists for the Oscar submission are here plus Libertad and Maixabel. None of them are available in the US yet though Parallel Mothers comes to theaters pretty soon (December 24th in select cities). The Good Boss also has a US distribution deal (with Cohen Media Group) but no date has been announced.

The only multiple Goya nominee available currently in the US is the young adult crime drama The Laws of the Border (streaming on Netflix) about a student mixed up with burglaries. It received 5 nominations though it didn't place in the top category.

DIRECTOR

Blanca Portillo and Icair Bollain on the set of "Maixabel"

• Fernando León de Aranoa, (“The Good Boss”) - 4th nod in this category (2 previous wins)
• Manuel Martín Cuenca, (“The Daughter”) - 3rd nod in this category
• Pedro Almodóvar, (“Parallel Mothers”) - 11th nod in this category (3 previous wins)
• Iciar Bollain, (“Maixabel”) - 5th nod in this category (1 previous win)

The Director's list is Goya Darlings only. But we expect de Aranoa to take his third given The Good Boss's huge nomination tally. The 'lone wolf' is Manuel Martin Cuenca whose film, The Daughter, is not up for Best Picture. The film is about a pregnant teenager and the couple she lives with.

Iciar Bollain, the only female director nominated, is best known stateside for the historical filmmaking drama Even the Rain (2010) starring Gael García Bernal which was an Oscar finalist in its year.

ACTOR

Eduard Fernández in "Mediterráneo"

• Javier Bardem, (“The Good Boss”) - 11th acting nom, 5 wins
• Javier Gutiérrez, (“The Daughter”) - 5th nom, 2 wins
• Luis Tosar, (“Maixabel”) -9th nom, 3 wins
• Eduard Fernández, (“Mediterráneo”) - 13th nom, 3 wins

It's an all previous winners category. Bardem actually has 6 Goyas already because he also won in the Documentary category once for a film he narrated and produced.

ACTRESS

Milena Smit and Penelope Cruz both received nominations for "Parallel mothers"

• Emma Suárez, (“Josefina”) - 7th nomination, 2 wins
• Petra Martínez, (“That Was Life”) - FIRST NOMINATION
• Penélope Cruz, (“Parallel Mothers”) - 13th nomination, 3 wins
• Blanca Portillo, (“Maixabel”) - 4th nomination

It's two Almodóvar alums (Julieta's Suárez and Volver's Portillo) verus Almodovar's chief muse (Penélope Cruz) versus first time nominee Petra Martinez

SUPPORTING ACTOR

• Celso Bugallo. (“The Good Boss”) -2nd nomination, 1 win
• Fernando Albizu, (“The Good Boss”) - 2nd nomination
• Manolo Solo, (“The Good Boss,”) -3rd nomination, 1 win
• Urko Olazabal, (“Maixabel”) - FIRST NOMINATION

Bugallo previously won for another Javier Bardem led drama, The Sea Inside. Can he pull off a double Bardem-as-lucky-charm trick?

SUPPORTING ACTRESS

• Sonia Almarcha, (“The Good Boss”) - FIRST NOMINATION
• Nora Navas, (“Libertad”) - 4th nomination, 1 win
• Aitana Sánchez Gijón (“Parallel Mothers”) - FIRST NOMINATION
• Milena Smit, (“Parallel Mothers”) - 2nd nomination

NEW ACTOR

Chechu Salgado (far left) stars in "The Laws of the Border"

• Óscar de la Fuente, (“The Good Boss”)
• Tarik Rmili, (“The Good Boss,”)
• Chechu Salgado (“Laws of the Border”)
• Jorge Motos (“Lucas”)

NEW ACTRESS

"Chavalas" also known as "Girlfriends" snagged nominations for Best New Actress and Best New Director

• Ángela Cervantes, (“Chavalas”)
• Almudena Amor, (“The Good Boss”)
• Nicolle García, (“Libertad”)
• María Cerezuela, (“Maixabel”)

NEW DIRECTOR

• Carol Rodríguez Colás, (“Chavalas”)
• Javier Marco Rico, (“Josefina”)
• David Martín de los Santos, (“That Was Life”)
• Clara Roquet, (“Libertad”)

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

"Out of Sync" also known as "Tres" scored nominations in Sound and Screenplay

• Fernando León de Aranoa, (“The Good Boss”)
• Clara Roquet, (“Libertad”)
• Iciar Bollain, Isa Campo, (“Maixabel”)
• Juanjo Giménez Peña, Pere Altimira, (“Out of Sync”)

Whoa. Skipping Almodóvar in the writing category is a choice. Out of Sync, the only one of these films that's not a Best Picture nominee is about a sound engineer whose personal life is falling apart. It stars Marta Nieto who was a Goya nominee in lead actress last year for Madres, a feature that was based on the Oscar nominated short (Madre, 2017) that she also starred in.

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

• Júlia de Paz Solvas, Núria Dunjó López (“Ama”)
• Agustí Villaronga (“The Belly of the Sea”)
• Daniel Monzón, Jorge Guerricaechevarría (“Laws of the Border”)
• Benito Zambrano, Cristina Campos (“Lemon and Poppy Seed Cake”)

ORIGINAL MUSIC

• Zeltia Montes, (“The Good Boss”)
• Fatima Al Qadiri, (“La abuela”)
• Alberto Iglesias, (“Maixabel”)
• Arnau Bataller, (“Mediterráneo”)

Albert Iglesias, one of our favourite composers, is nominated again but not for his latest collaboration with Almodóvar.

ORIGINAL SONG

• Àngel Leiro, Jean-Paul Dupeyron, Xavier Capellas, (“Álbum de posguerra”)
• Antonio Orozco, Jordi Colell Pinillos, (“The Cover”)
• Alejandro García Rodríguez, Antonio Molinero León, Daniel Escortell Blandino, José Manuel Cabrera Escot, Miguel García Cantero, (“The Laws of the Border”)
• Maria José Llergo, (“Mediterráneo”)

The Cover is a musical comedy. Album de Posguerra is a documentary about a war reporter meeting the children he photographed in Sarajevo now that they're adults. 

PRODUCTION DESIGN

• Óscar Vigiola, (“Love Gets a Room”)
• Luis Gutiérrez, (“The Good Boss”)
• Guadalupe Balaguer Trelles, (“Maixabel”)
• Albert Espel, Kostas Seakianakis, (“Mediterráneo”)

CINEMATOGRAPHY

"Libertad"

• Pau Esteve Birba, (“The Good Boss”) -2 nominations, 1 win
• Gris Jordana, (“Libertad”) - FIRST NOMINATION
• José Luis Alcaine, (“Parallel Mothers”) - 21 nominations, 5 wins
• Kiko de la Rica, (“Mediterráneo”) - 6 noms, 1 win

De la Rica previously won for the brilliant black and white and silent Snow White film Blancanieves (2011). Curiously José Luis Alcaine has never won for an Almodóvar film despite winning for a fourth of his nominations and nearly a third of his nominations coming from Almodóvar films.

EDITING

• Antonio Frutos, (“Bajocero”)
• Vanessa L. Marimbert, (“The Good Boss”)
• Miguel Doblado, (“Josefina”)
• Nacho Ruiz Capillas, (“Maixabel”)

ART DIRECTION

• César Macarrón, (“The Good Boss”)
• Balter Gallart, (“The Laws of the Border”)
• Antxón Gómez, (“Parallel Mothers”)
• Mikel Serrano, (“Maixabel”)

 COSTUME DESIGN

"Love Gets a Room"

• Alberto Valcárcel, (“Love gets a room”) - 3rd nomination
• Fernando García, (“The Good Boss”) - 4th nomination, 1 win
• Vinyet Escobar, (“The Laws of the Border”) - FIRST NOMINATION
• Clara Bilbao, (“Maixabel”) - 4th nomination, 3 wins

Alberto Valcarcel, who has yet to win a Goya, has the most traditional costume drama entry with Love Gets a Room which is about a theater company performing in the Warsaw Ghetto. The director of that film is Rodrigo Cortés who came to international attention with his sophomore feature Buried (2010), the drama mystery starring Ryan Reynolds (and only Ryan Reynolds) realizing he'd been buried alive. 

On the other hand, Clara Bilbao has won for all of her nominations to date. Can she continue that streak for her work on Maixabel? 

MAKEUP

• Almudena Fonseca, Manolo García, (“The Good Boss”)
• Sarai Rodríguez, Benjamín Pérez, Nacho Díaz, (“The Laws of the Border”)
• Eli Adánez, Sergio Pérez Berbel, Nacho Díaz, (“Libertad”)
• Karmele Soler, Sergio Pérez Berbel, (“Maixabel”)

SOUND DESIGN

• Iván Marín, Pelayo Gutiérrez, Valeria Arcieri, (“The Good Boss”)
• Sergio Bürmann, Laia Casanovas, Marc Orts, (“Parallel Mothers”)
• Alazne Ameztoy, Juan Ferro, Candela Palencia, (“Maixabel”)
• Daniel Fontrodona, Oriol Tarragó, Marc Bech, Marc Orts, (“Out of Sync”)

SPECIAL EFFECTS

• Raúl Romanillos, Míriam Piquer, (“The Good Boss”)
• Raúl Romanillos, Ferran Piquer, (“La abuela”)
• Àlex Villagrasa, (“Mediterráneo”)
• Pau Costa, Laura Pedro, (“Way Down”)

ANIMATED FEATURE

• “Gora automatikoa,” (Esaú Dharma, David Galán Galindo, Pablo Vara)
• “Mironins,” (Álex Cervantes, Ángel Coronado, Anton Roebben, Eric Goossens, Iván Agenjo, Mikel Mas)
• “Salvor el Arbol (Zutik!)” (Carmelo Vivanco, Egoitz Rodríguez, Fernando Alonso, Jonatan Guzmán, Nelson Botter)
• “Valentina,” (Brandán de Brano, Chelo Loureiro, Luís da Matta, Mariano Baratech, Noa García)

IBEROAMERICAN FEATURE

• “Song Without a Name” (Melina León, Peru)
• “The Cordillera of Dreams” (Patricio Guzmán, Chile)
• “The Siamese Bond” (Paula Hernández, Argentina)
• “The Wolves” (Samuel Kishi, Mexico)

EUROPEAN FEATURE

Germany's Oscar submission "I'm Your Man"

• “Bye Bye Morons,” (Albert Dupontel, France)
• “I’m Your Man,” (Maria Schrader, Germany)
• “Another Round,” (Thomas Vinterberg, Dinamarca)
• “Promising Young Woman” (Emerald Fennell, United Kingdom)

FICTION SHORT

• “Farrucas,” (Ian de la Rosa)
• “Mindanao,” (Borja Soler)
• “Tótem loba,” (Verónica Echegui)
• “Votamos,” (Santiago Requejo)
• “Yalla,” (Carlo D’Ursi)

 DOCUMENTARY

• “The Return: Life After ISIS,” (Alba Sotorra)
• “Heroes. Silence and Rock and Roll,” (Alexis Morante)
• “Quién lo impide,” (Jonás Trueba)
• “Tehran Blues,” (Javier Tolentino)

DOCUMENTARY SHORT

• “Dajla: cine y olvido,” (Arturo Dueñas Herrero)
• “Figurante,” (Nacho Fernández)
• “Mamá,” (Pablo de la Chica)
• “Ulisses,” (Joan Bover)

ANIMATED SHORT

• “Nacer,” (Roberto Valle)
• “Proceso de selección,” (Carla Pereira)
• “The Monkey,” (Lorenzo Degl’Innocenti, Xosé Zapata)
• “Umbrellas,” (José Prats)

Comments

[Ignacio]

I *hated* The Good Boss. Bardem and most of the cast are pretty good on it, but I found the direction quite bland and the script is quite dreadful, very old-fashioned and sexist. Such a pity. There's been quite a good season of films and documentaries by less famous directors (Quién lo impide by Jonás Trueba should have been nominated in quite a few more categories) that they have mostly ignored in order to nominate the same people as always.

[Jésus Alonso]

I have to say that I am not surprised of the reception to Parallel Mothers and the creaming in the pants for The Good Boss... Goya members have their favorites and the ones that only would nominate for undeniable stuff. Hence, the horrendous snub of Parallel Mothers' screenplay, which may be the best that Almodovar has ever written

[Kris]

This is from a non-spanish speaker, only relying on the subtitles - yeah, I have to agree with Ignacio... it was overly-stupidly sexist... Although Bardem was ok and overall it wasn't a boring movie, like so many this year (I did miss Libertad, although it was playing at our local festival, that just ended yesterday)... but it's more of a tv-movie standard with the boss with all the troubles.. the usual script in that sense...
And I have to add, that Parallel mothers wasn't any better (maybe it's more for the locals, as I didn't get the ending at all - why was it there? and there were some other weird misses and some usual Almodovar stuff) and so far Good boss is the best spanish film I've seen this year. Penelope had a better movie... but that one was Argentinian I guess - Official Competition (not a great movie, but quite ok).
The best movie in spanish language in 2021 so far comes from Chile and I really hope it will be Chilean antry for the Oscars in 2023 - "A place called Dignity"...