The highly acclaimed Brokeback Mountain, which follows the secret love affair of two cowboys, dominated the Golden Globe Awards on Monday night with four honours, including best dramatic film and best director for Ang Lee.

"I spend so much time making movies I sometimes get too uptight, too critical to enjoy this," Lee said upon accepting his best director win. "[But this year] I have seen and loved so many of my colleagues' films. That makes this award ... so much more special because I think it has been an amazing year for American cinema.

"Thanks to my fellow filmmakers for strengthening my faith in movies," he said.

'Brokeback Mountain' director Ang Lee, right, is joined by producer James Schamus, left, and co-writer Diana Ossana, center, as they pose with the Golden Globe they won for best dramatic motion picture. (AP photo)

Brokeback also won awards for screenwriting and for the original song A Love That Will Never Grow Old, composed by Gustavo Santaolalla, written by Bernie Taupin and sung by Emmylou Harris.

The film, based on a story by Annie Proulx, has won massive acclaim from critics groups, and took the top prize at the Venice Film Festival last fall.

As widely anticipated, Philip Seymour Hoffman won best actor in a dramatic film for playing legendary writer Truman Capote in Capote.

Reese Witherspoon and Joaquin Phoenix won best actress and best actor, musical or comedy for playing June and Johnny Cash in 'Walk The Line.' (Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images)

Felicity Huffman, best known as one of TV's Desperate Housewives, was named best actress in a dramatic film for her gender-bending role in Transamerica.

The Johnny Cash biopic Walk The Line was another major winner, taking three trophies, including best film, musical or comedy.

Joaquin Phoenix, who won the corresponding best actor category for his portrayal of Cash, thanked "John and June (Carter Cash, his wife) for sharing their lives with us."

Sandra Oh poses with her Golden Globe for her work on 'Grey's Anatomy.' (AP photo)

Earlier in the evening, amid tough competition that included veterans Judi Dench and Laura Linney, actress Reese Witherspoon was named best actress in a film, musical or comedy for her role as country legend June Carter Cash.

Witherspoon, who was raised in Nashville, said the biopic was "very important" to her.

"It's about where I grew up, it's about the music I grew up listening to, so it's very meaningful," she said.

S. Epatha Merkerson, perhaps best known for playing Lieut. Anita Van Buren for more than a dozen years on Law & Order, was honoured with the prize for best actress in a miniseries or motion picture made for television for her role in HBO's Lackawanna Blues, her first lead role in a film.

"This is so amazing. I'm 53 years old. This is my first lead in a film. I feel like I'm 16," Merkerson joked before specifying, "well, if I wasn't in the middle of a hot flash."

The corresponding award for best actor in a miniseries or made-for-TV motion picture went to Irish actor Jonathan Rhys Meyers for his portrayal of Elvis Presley in Elvis.

Mary-Louise Parker, who portrays a marijuana-dealing suburban mom in Weeds, beat out all four of the Desperate Housewives lead actresses in the best TV actress, musical or comedy category. Steve Carrell of The Office was named best TV actor, musical or comedy.

However, Desperate Housewives did win best TV series, musical or comedy. Lost was named best dramatic TV series.

Canadian actress Sandra Oh was among the early winners Monday night at the Beverly Hills gala, winning for her role as an aggressive, ambitious surgical intern on TV hit Grey's Anatomy. An exuberant Oh took the trophy for best supporting actress in a series, miniseries or motion picture made for TV.

"I feel like someone has set me on fire," she claimed onstage, singling out Grey's Anatomy creator Shonda Rhimes. "Thank you for writing this and thank you for letting me act ... This is fantastic. Look at all you people!"

Actors Rachel Weisz, George Clooney, Hugh Laurie and Geena Davis were also among the first to get their hands on the coveted golden trophies.

Weisz picked up a nod from the Hollywood Foreign Press Association for her supporting role in the film The Constant Gardener, a murder and conspiracy thriller based on the John Le Carré novel. Clooney was recognized for his supporting role in Syriana, the politically charged thriller about the global oil industry.

Two new shows took home trophies for their dramatic leads: Laurie, a Golden Globe newcomer, won best actor in a TV series (drama) for his role as the titular acerbic doctor in House, while Davis took home a Golden Globe for playing the female U.S. president in Commander In Chief.

Hollywood icon Paul Newman, who was not in attendance, won for best supporting actor in a series, miniseries or motion picture made for television for HBO's Empire Falls, which also took the award for best miniseries or made-for-TV film.

Veteran actor Anthony Hopkins was honoured with the Cecil B. DeMille Award, the association's lifetime achievement prize, with Proof co-star Gwyneth Paltrow presenting the prize and calling the prolific Hopkins "the [Laurence] Olivier of our time."

In addition to thanking the "great directors and great actors" he worked with over the years, Hopkins extended his thanks to "the extraordinary people who make the movies: the crews ... the anonymous people who work harder than anyone."

"This industry has been really good to me," Hopkins said. "It's been a great life. I'm not through yet. I'm ready when you are, Mr. DeMille."

Other Golden Globe winners included John Williams, who took home the best original score award for his work on Memoirs of a Geisha, and the Palestinian film Paradise Now, which was named best foreign film.

The Golden Globes are awarded each year by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, a group of Los Angeles-based journalists writing for overseas publications.

About 80 association members vote for the film and television prizes. In comparison, close to 6,000 actors, directors and other film professionals are eligible to vote for the Academy Awards, which follow in March.

The Globes have risen in profile over the years for regularly awarding many of those who later end up as winners at the Oscars, including Jamie Foxx, Hilary Swank, Sean Penn, Charlize Theron, Renée Zellweger, Peter Jackson and his The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.