“The Brutalist” and “Emilia Pérez” topped the movie categories at the 82nd annual Golden Globes on Sunday, while “Shogun” did the same in the television categories on a night that also delivered a handful of surprises in the acting categories.

“Emilia Pérez,” the musical film about a cartel boss who transitions from man to woman, was the biggest winner of this year’s film awards, winning four Golden Globes including best motion picture comedy or musical, best non-English movie, supporting actress in a comedy or musical for Zoe Saldaña, and best original song.

“The Brutalist” is the story of an immigrant midcentury architect with a runtime of more than three hours. It won three Golden Globes including best motion picture drama, best actor in a motion picture drama for Adrien Brody, and best director for Brady Corbet, who also wrote the screenplay.

“I was told that this film was undistributable,” Corbet said of the challenges “The Brutalist” faced. “I was told no one would come out and see it. I was told it wouldn’t work. And I don’t resent that.

“But I want to use this as an opportunity to lift up filmmakers,” he continued. “Let’s prop them up. No one was asking for a three-and-a-half-hour film about a midcentury designer on 70 millimeter. But it works.”

“Emilia Pérez” writer-director Jacques Audiard invited his star, the Spanish actress Karla Sofía Gascón, who like the character she played is transgender, to speak in his place when the movie won best comedy or musical.

“The light always wins over darkness,” Gascón said of the message the movie delivers about identity, equality and justice. “You can maybe put us in jail. You can beat us up. But you never can take away our soul, our existence, our identity. Raise your voice, and say I am who I am.”

Despite dominating the pop culture discourse over the last month and a half, the musical “Wicked” only won the Golden Globe for box office and cinematic achievement, a category the Globes added a year ago to honor the commercial successes of the year. Its stars, Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande, went home otherwise emptyhanded.

Perhaps the biggest surprise of the night came when Brazilian actress Fernanda Torres won best female actor in a motion picture drama for “I’m Still Here,” beating such heavyweight contenders as Angelina Jolie, Nicole Kidman and Kate Winslet.

“Of course I want to dedicate it to my mother,” Torres said of her actress mother Fernanda Montenegro, who was nominated for a Golden Globe and Oscar in 1999 for the Brazilian film “Central Station. “You have no idea. She was here 25 years ago and this is proof that art can endure through life, even in difficult moments like this.”

“Shogun” won all four Golden Globes it was nominated for including best television drama, best actor, best actress, and best supporting actor.

“Hacks” won a pair of awards including best television comedy and best actress in a television comedy for star Jean Smart. “Baby Reindeer” also won a pair of Golden Globes including best limited series and best supporting actress in a series or limited series for Jessica Gunning.

1 award for ‘Wicked’

The Golden Globe for cinematic and box office achievement is a recent addition to the show that honors the blockbusters of the year which may or may not win in other categories, and “Wicked” certainly fits that slot.

“This is for you, the fans out there who came to see the movie,” director John Chu said with the cast of “Wicked” around him on stage to accept the award. “We saw your singalongs, we saw your videos, your bake-alongs, I don’t know.

“And in a time when pessimism and cynicism sort of rule the planet right now, that we can still make art that is a radical act of optimism,” he continued. “That is empowerment and that is joy.

“And so when we discover that maybe the world isn’t exactly the way we thought it was, that maybe we are a little bit Elphaba inside of us,” he continued. “That maybe we have that encouragement and that strength to not give up but to rise up and take the road off the yellow brick road and maybe discover we can fly.”

TV triumphs

“Shogun” jumped out to an early lead in the television categories at the Golden Globes with wins in best actor and supporting actor categories.

The FX series, which dominated the Emmy Awards in September, was nominated for four Golden Globes this year – one less than the most-nominated series this year, the FX series “The Bear” – and actors Hiroyuki Sanada and Tadanobu Asano won for best male performance in a television drama and best male supporting actor, respectively.

“Wow! So maybe you don’t know me,” Asano began in his very excited and happy acceptance. “I’m an actor from Japan and my name is Tadanobu Asano. Wow. Thank you so much.

“I have to come back to Tokyo tonight, tomorrow morning I’m shooting again,” he continued. “This is better. This is a very big present for me. I’m very happy.”

The first hour of the show focused mostly on television categories, but the film “Conclave,” which follows power moves in the Vatican as the cardinals gather to select a new pope, picked up best screenplay for a motion picture for writer Peter Straughan, who thanked novelist Robert Harris, whose book Straughan adapted.

“A third of this is yours,” Straughan said. “And Edward Berger, our director, you get a third of this. To the cast (which includes Ralph Fiennes and Stanley Tucci), I can’t give you a third of this, I’ve just done the maths. You can borrow this anytime you want.”

The Netflix limited series “Baby Reindeer” won the Golden Globe for limited series, anthology series or TV movie, which brought creator and star Richard Gadd to the stage with his cast and crew to make a pitch for shows such as his which deal with dark and troubling themes.

“A lot of people sometimes ask me why ‘Baby Reindeer,’ a show this dark, has gone on to be the success it has,” Gadd said. “I think in a lot of ways people were sort of crying out for something that kind of spoke to the painful inconsistencies of being human.

“For a while now there’s been this kind of belief in television that stories that are too dark and complicated won’t sell,” he continued. “I hope that ‘Baby Reindeer’ has done away with that theory because right now when the world is in the state it’s in, and people are really struggling, we need stories that speak to the complicated and difficult nature of our times.”

Early trophies

Saldaña snared the first Golden Globe of the night when she won best supporting female actor in a motion picture for her work in the Netflix film “Emilia Pérez,” beating not only Ariana Grande, nominated for “Wicked,” but one of her co-stars, Selena Gomez, as well.

After thanking various cast and crew in the musical film, she wrapped up a very excited and tearful speech with a few words for her director.

“Thank you, merci beaucoup, Jacques Audiard, for trusting me,” Saldaña said. “You’re so French and so chic and so confident and kind. I love it.”

Best female actor in a television series, musical or comedy, came next with Smart winning the Golden Globe for her work in “Hacks.”

“I never thought I’d be so happy to be called a hack,” Smart said as she accepted the award.

host gives roast

The show kicked off the night with a celebration of women in show biz from host Nikki Glaser, the first woman to ever host the show by herself, to Saldaña and Smart.

Glaser, a stand-up comedian known for her sharp jabs on comedy roast shows, was a bit nicer to the Hollywood stars in the ballroom at the Beverly Hilton, but only a bit.

Spotting Eddie Redmayne, nominated for the Peacock series “Day of the Jackal,” she introduced it as “about a top-secret sniper than no one can find – because he’s on Peacock.”

Turning to Timothée Chalamet, nominated for “A Complete Unknown,” Glaser started off nicely enough: “Can I just say, you just have the most gorgeous eyelashes,” she began. But then inserted the knife: “On your upper lip.”

Wrapping up her opening monologue, Glaser reminded all the losers-to-come to take it in the spirit of their art.

“I just hope you remember that the point of making art isn’t to win an award,” she noted. “The point of making art is to Is to start a tequila brand so popular that you never have to make art again.”