The Hollywood guilds and professional organizations have for the most part finished handing out their awards for the films of 2019, with “Parasite” and “1917” emerging as the year’s big winners.
Bong Joon Ho’s Korean-language black comedy won the most guild awards, five, but Sam Mendes’ World War I drama won four, including two of the biggest ones, from the Producers Guild and Directors Guild. Given the results, it’s no secret why those two films are the clear frontrunners heading into Sunday’s Oscars, or why “Jojo Rabbit” – which also won four – is coming on strong as well.
In this count, we’re including the guilds or professional organizations who align with an Oscars category. That leaves out the Artios Awards, which is given to casting directors, and the Guild of Music Supervisors, which largely goes to supervisors, though it has one songwriting award for film. (Only one of the Oscar song nominees, “Into the Unknown” from “Frozen II,” is nominated, and the award won’t be handed out until Thursday.)
The included guilds: the Screen Actors Guild, Directors Guild, Producers Guild and Writers Guild, the four largest Hollywood guilds and the ones watched most closely for Oscar predictions; and the American Cinema Editors, American Society of Cinematographers, Art Directors Guild, Cinema Audio Society, Costume Designers Guild, Make-Up Artists and Hair Stylists Guild, Motion Picture Sound Editors, Society of Composers and Lyricists, and Visual Effects Society.
The final scorecard for the Oscar Best Picture nominees:
“Parasite”: 5
It won the ensemble cast award from the Screen Actors Guild, plus the original screenplay prize from the Writers Guild, both of them major wins. Additional wins came from the American Cinema Editors (something of a surprise), the Art Directors Guild and the Motion Picture Sound Editors, in most cases the first time those awards have honored a film not in the English language.
“1917”: 4
It won the two most significant guild awards, the Producers Guild Award and Directors Guild Award. Hampered by a late finish that made it difficult for early-voting guilds to see it, its other two awards came from the American Society of Cinematographers and the Motion Picture Sound Editors, two Oscar categories in which it stands a good chance of winning.
“Jojo Rabbit”: 4
Its four awards only include one from the four major guilds, the Writers Guild, where it beat “The Irishman” and “Little Women.” It also won from the American Cinema Editors, Costume Designers Guild and Motion Picture Sound Editors.
(Yes, all three of the films listed so far won MPSE awards – that group has a lot of different film categories, as do a few of the guilds.)
“Joker”: 3
Joaquin Phoenix won SAG’s best-actor award, along with every other acting prize there is to win. Its score was also honored by the Society of Composers and Lyricists, and its makeup artists won from the Make-Up Artists and Hair Stylists Guild.
“Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood”: 2
With only two awards, Quentin Tarantino’s film has underperformed with the guilds, though Brad Pitt’s supporting-actor award from SAG is part of his own sweep through the acting awards. The film also won from the Art Directors Guild and is a strong contender to take the Best Production Design category at the Oscars as well. It was ineligible for the Writers Guild Awards, which it could have been a strong competitor to “Parasite.”
“Ford v Ferrari”: 2
It’s all about the sound for James Mangold’s car-racing drama. The film won from both the Cinema Audio Society (sound mixing) and Motion Picture Sound Editors (sound editing).
“Marriage Story”: 1
Noah Baumbach’s film has won at all the awards shows that honor acting, including SAG, because Laura Dern is everyone’s choice for the year’s best supporting actress. Otherwise, the film has been shut out at the guilds.
“The Irishman”: 1
Martin Scorsese’s epic gangland saga, like “Marriage Story” a Netflix release, was nominated by almost all the guilds. It was honored by the Visual Effects Society but did not win anywhere else (though it picked up a fair number of critics’ awards).
“Little Women”: 0
The Oscars’ Best Director category isn’t the only place where Greta Gerwig was overlooked: Her Louisa May Alcott adaptation was only nominated by the Producers Guild and Writers Guild and didn’t win either one.
Films that were not nominated for Best Picture but won guild awards include “Avengers: Endgame” (Art Directors Guild), “Bombshell” (Make-Up Artists and Hair Stylists Guild), “Downton Abbey” (Costume Designers Guild), “Harriet” (Society of Composers and Lyricists), “Judy” (Screen Actors Guild for Renee Zellweger), “Knives Out” (Costume Designers Guild), “The Lion King” (Visual Effects Society), “Maleficent: Mistress of Evil” (Costume Designers Guild) and “Rocketman” (Motion Picture Sound Editors).
Of the six guilds that give out awards for animated features, “Toy Story 4” won five (Producers Guild, American Cinema Editors, Art Directors Guild, Cinema Audio Society and Motion Picture Sound Editors) and “Missing Link” won one (Visual Effects Society).