Gangs of New York nominated for Directors Guild gong

Martin Scorsese, who won a Golden Globe on Sunday for directing Gangs of New York, has been nominated by his peers for the Directors Guild of America Award.

In the 55 years since the Los Angeles-based guild began presenting its award, the recipient has gone on to win the best-director Oscar all but five times, including last year when Ron Howard won the Oscar for A Beautiful Mind.

The Golden Globe winner had been Robert Altman for Gosford Park.

Scorsese, who tried since the 1970s to make the brutal immigrant saga Gangs of New York, has never won a guild, but was nominated four times previously for 1976’s Taxi Driver, 1980’s Raging Bull, 1990’s GoodFellas and 1993’s The Age of Innocence.

The guild had planned to honour the 60-year-old director with a lifetime achievement award, its highest tribute, during its 55th annual awards ceremony on March 1.

Roman Polanski was nominated for The Pianist, the story of a Polish musician fleeing the Nazi invasion. Polanski has had two previous guild nominations, for 1968’s Rosemary’s Baby and 1974’s Chinatown.

Today’s nomination was his first by the guild since he pleaded guilty in 1976 to unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor, then fled the US before his sentencing.

Other nominees were Stephen Daldry for The Hours, about three women from different eras with ties to the work of author Virginia Woolf, Peter Jackson for the second instalment of the JRR Tolkien fantasy trilogy The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, and first-time feature director Rob Marshall for the jazz musical Chicago.

The Hours won best drama at the Golden Globes, while Chicago was honoured as best musical-comedy. Both are considered front-runners for Academy Awards consideration.

Oscar nominations will be announced on February 11, with the awards going out on March 23.