Noah Baumbach’s Marriage Story has been named best film of 2019 in the 13th annual poll from the Dublin Film Critics Circle (DFCC). In another sign that Netflix is increasingly making the running at awards season, Martin Scorsese’s The Irishman was comfortably ahead of the following pack in second place. Baumbach’s study of a bitter divorce between two bohemians scored near-unprecedented success across the categories. Adam Driver and Scarlett Johansson triumphed as, respectively, best actor and best actress. Baumbach took the prize for best screenplay. Scorsese secured best director.
Yorgos Lanthimos’s The Favourite looks to have suffered from its domestic release early in the year (on January 1st). The film figures seventh in the best film race, but only eighth in the competition for best Irish film. The film qualifies in the home category, but ultimately lost out to Mike Ahern and Enda Loughman’s supernatural comedy Extra Ordinary.
Among international films, there was an impressively strong showing for Olivia Wilde’s delightful comedy Booksmart. Ignored by other critics circles throughout the globe, the film scored top-five finishes in best film, best director and best screenplay.
The DFCC awarded two breakthrough awards. Aisling Franciosci, the Irish actor who was so strong in Jennifer Kent’s The Nightingale, won the prize for her performance. Kantemir Balagov, whose Russian film Beanpole astonished towards the end of the year was named best breakthrough director.
The Dublin Film Critics Circle comprises full-time critics working within the capital and beyond. In addition to its annual awards, it presents a range of prizes at the Dublin International Film Festival.
DFCC 2019 POLL
BEST FILM
1. Marriage Story
2. The Irishman
3. Pain and Glory
4. Joker
5. Booksmart
6. Once Upon a Time in… Hollywood
7. The Favourite
8. Hustlers/High Life
9. The Souvenir
10. Ash is Purest White/Monos
BEST DIRECTOR
1. Martin Scorsese, The Irishman
2. Pedro Almodóvar, Pain and Glory
3. Noah Baumbach, Marriage Story
4. Olivia Wilde, Booksmart
5. Todd Phillips, Joker
6. Yorgos Lanthimos, The Favourite
7. Jordan Peele, Us
8. Claire Denis, High Life
9. Lorene Scafaria, Hustlers
10. Quentin Tarantino, Once Upon a Time in… Hollywood
BEST ACTOR
1. Adam Driver, Marriage Story
2. Joaquin Phoenix, Joker
3. Antonio Banderas, Pain and Glory
4. Robert De Niro, The Irishman
5. Christian Bale, Vice
6. Taron Egerton, Rocketman
7. Brad Pitt, Ad Astra
8. Robert Pattinson, High Life/Stephan James, If Beale Street Could Talk
9. Steve Coogan, Stan and Ollie
10. Felix Maritaud, Savage
BEST ACTRESS
1. Scarlett Johansson, Marriage Story
2.Lupita Nyong’o, Us
3. Olivia Colman, The Favourite
4. Renee Zellweger, Judy
5. Jessie Buckley, Wild Rose
6. Florence Pugh, Midsommar
7. Saoirse Ronan, Little Women
8. Awkwafina, The Farewell
9. Jennifer Lopez, Hustlers
10. Maggie Gyllenhaal, The Kindergarten Teacher
BEST SCREENPLAY
1. Noah Baumbach, Marriage Story
2. Emily Halpern, Sarah Haskins, Susanna Fogel, Katie Silberman, Booksmart
3. Quentin Tarantino, Once Upon a Time in… Hollywood
4. Rian Johnson, Knives Out
5. Steven Zaillian, The Irishman
6. Joanna Hogg, The Souvenir
7. Lulu Wang, The Farewell
8. Pedro Almodóvar, Pain and Glory
9. Jordan Peele, Us
10. Lorene Scafaria, Hustlers
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
1. Hoyte van Hoytema, Ad Astra
2. James Laxton, If Beale Street Could Talk
3. Lawrence Sher, Joker
4. Robert Richardson, Once Upon a Time in… Hollywood
5.Pawel Pogorzelski, Midsommar
6. Rodrigo Prieto, The Irishman
7. Robbie Ryan, Marriage Story
8. Robbie Ryan, The Favourite
9. Adam Newport-Berra, The Last Black Man in San Francisco
10. Jasper Wolf, Monos
BEST IRISH FILM
1. Extra Ordinary
2. The Hole in the Ground
3. A Bump Along the Way
4. Ordinary Love
5. Gaza
6. Papi Chulo
7. The Dig
8. The Favourite
9. Greta
10. Float Like a Butterfly
BEST DOCUMENTARY
1. Apollo 11
2. Diego Maradona
3. Gaza
4. Minding the Gap
5. For Sama
6. Amazing Grace
7. An Engineer Imagines
8. Shooting the Mafia
9. The Man Who Wanted to Fly
10. Land Without God
BREAKTHROUGH PERFORMANCE 2019 – Aisling Franciosci, The Nightingale
BREAKTHROUGH DIRECTOR 2019 – Kantemir Balagov, Beanpole