The Hungarian Holocaust movie “Son of Saul” and Rachel Bloom, the star of the show “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend,” won Golden Globe awards.
“Son of Saul” won for best foreign film and Bloom was named best actress in a television series, musical or comedy when the awards were handed out on Jan. 10. Aaron Sorkin won for best screenplay for the film “Steve Jobs.” Bloom and Sorkin are Jewish.
In “Son of Saul,” a film funded in part by the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany, the character of Saul Auslander is a member of the Sonderkommando at Auschwitz-Birkenau who is forced to cremate the bodies of fellow prisoners gassed by the SS. In one corpse, Saul believes he recognizes his son. As the Sonderkommando men plan a rebellion, Saul vows to save the body from the flames and find a rabbi to say Kaddish.
The televised ceremony included host Ricky Gervais roasting presenter Mel Gibson, who made anti-Semitic slurs to a sheriff’s officer during a widely publicized DUI arrest in 2006. Gibson later apologized.
Gibson was presenting for the best picture nominee “Mad Max: Fury Road” when he experienced the wrath of Gervais, who also insulted Gibson at the 2010 Golden Globes ceremony.
“A few years ago on this show I made a joke about Mel Gibson getting a bit drunk and saying a few unsavory things,” Gervais said. “We’ve all done it. I wasn’t judging him, but now I find myself in the awkward position of having to introduce him again. Listen, I’m sure it’s embarrassing for both of us, and I blame NBC for this terrible situation. And Mel blames … well, we know who Mel blames.”
Gervais ended the show by saying: “From myself and Mel Gibson, shalom.” — jta