'The Beasts' wins big at the Goyas
Monday, February 13, 2023 at 8:14PM
NATHANIEL R in Alcarràs, Goyas, Lullaby, Prison 77, Spain, The Beasts

by Nathaniel R

THE BEASTS © Greenwich Entertainment

Spain's annual Goya Awards, now in their 37th year,  were held this weekend in Seville. Rodrigo Soroyen's thriller The Beasts, about a middle aged French couple who move to rural Spain and are greeted with surprising hostility by neighbors won big. It took nine prizes from its 17 nominations. (Greenwich Entertainment has distribution rights in the US but no word yet on when it's coming out.) If the name Rodrigo Soroyen sounds familiar to you, that's because he was an Oscar nominee not too long ago with the live-action short Madres (2018)...

 Alcarràs, Spain's Oscar submission, went home empty-handed, while its rivals for that very same submission (The Beasts and Lullaby) both won multiple Goyas. It's always interesting when that happens so it's worth noting again that the groups that pick the Oscar submission for any given country are rarely the same group choosing the country's own top awards. In Spain's case it is the same Academy though we'll assume that it's a subgroup within the group as the entire voting body surely isn't voting four months early and then voting again. If they are it's very strange to see Alcarràs fare so poorly. (The major exception to this "not the same group" situation is Israel as the winner of the Ophir automatically becomes their Oscar submission... provided it's not in the English language of course).

After the jump the complete winners list including two very busy French actors and a certain Norwegian film that we've been obsessed with for well over a year now...

Best film

Best director

Best new director

We've heard wonderful things about Lullaby but sadly it has no US distribution. 

Best original screenplay

Best adapted screenplay

ONE YEAR ONE NIGHT

One Year One Night is about traumatized survivors. It stars extremely busy international thespians Noémie Merlant (from France) and Nahuel Pérez Biscayart (from Argentina). They both broke through via French cinema but work all over the world.

Best actor

Even if you don't know the name Denis Ménochet, you've seen him in a movie. He's been in excellent American films (Inglorious Basterds, The French Dispatch), US/British would-be blockbusters (Robin Hood, Assassin's Creed) multiple acclaimed French films  (Custody, In the House, By the Grace of God) and Spanish films, too! He's also up for the César for Best Lead Actor this year with the Fassbinder riff Peter Von Kant. 

Best actress

You might remember Laia Costa from the absolutely thrilling continuous-shot drama Victoria (2015) in which she had the lead role. 

Best supporting actor

This is Luis Zahera's second win in this category at the Goyas. He also won for Rodrigo Soroyen's film The Candidate (2018)

Best supporting actress

We always love it when an Almodóvar repertory player wins something. Susi Sánchez has been in four Almodóvars to date: Pain and Glory, Julieta, I'm So Excited!, and The Skin I Live In. Sánchez previously won at the Goyas in lead actress for Sunday's Illness (2018).

Best new actor

Irureta is an actor with cerebal palsy and he won for a film about a man who hires a sexual assistant. In his much-applauded acceptance speech he said "people with disabilities also exist and we also fuck." 

Best new actress

 

PIGGY © Magnet Releasing

Galan is the star of the horror film Piggy which Claudio raved about right  here. 

Best original score

Best original song

Best production supervision

Best cinematography

Best Costume Design

PRISON 77

Prison 77 which won five craft Goyas is a thriller about a young accountant on trial for embezzlement in the 1970s

Best editing

Best art direction

 

Best sound

Best special effects

Best Makeup and Hairstyling

 

Best animation feature

Best animated short 

Best fictional short

 

 

Best documentary

Best documentary short 

 

Best Latin American film

After winning the Globe and the Goya, it's clear people really dig this courtroom drama from Argentina. We'd call it a threat to win the Oscar if the Academy hadn't just gone so totally wild for All Quiet on the Western Front to the tune of nine nominations. 

Best European Film

THE WORST PERSON IN THE WORLD © Neon

It's deja vu since four of the five of pictures were a part of Oscar season last year. Playground was a finalist for Best International Feature while The Hand of God and The Worst Person in the World were both nominees, and Belfast was an Oscar winner (Best Original Screenplay). The odd film out is France's big César winner from last year, the costume drama Lost Illusions.  

International Goya

Queen!

Article originally appeared on The Film Experience (http://thefilmexperience.net/).
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