BORAT: CULTURAL LEARNINGS OF AMERICA FOR MAKE BENEFIT GLORIOUS NATION OF KAZAKHKSTAN / Larry Charles (2006)

November 6th, 2006 by Scott Marks

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Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan (2006)
Directed by: Larry Charles

Written by: Sacha Baron Cohen, Anthony Hines

Genres: Comedy

Cast: Sacha Baron Cohen, Ken Davitian, Luenell, Ilham Äliyev, Bob Barr, Alan Keyes

Aspect Ratio: 1.85 : 1

Rating:

Any film that has both the Iranian government and the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) calling for its boycott must be devoutly cherished.

On September 28 the ADL issued a statement voicing concern over “one serious pitfall… the audience may not always be sophisticated enough to get the joke, and that some may even find it reinforcing their bigotry.”

All this ado simply because the filmmakers chose to document the ceremonial “Running of the Jew” through the streets of Kazakhstan. Then there are the elderly Jewish proprietors of a Bed and Breakfast blessed (as all Jews are) with the ability to shape-shift. When the couple transforms into a pair of cockroaches, Borat wisely wards them off by showering them with money. And who can blame our otherwise plucky hero for insisting on traveling by car. Is he the only one terrified that the Jews will “repeat their attack on 9/11?”

Spike Lee can only dream of pulling off satire as subtle and effective as this.

By now, everything you’re heard about Borat is true. In a year filled with numerous outstanding comedies, Borat leads the pack. Forget about 2006, this is one of the funniest movies you will ever see. Wall-to-wall hilarity is guaranteed, generally accompanied by uncontrollable fits of crying from all the laughs on display.

Any premium channel that refuses to run letterbox copies and is known as much for boxing and an over-rated Goodfellas rip-off as it is their movie lineup is not a welcome guest in my home. A friend began slipping me VHS dubs of HBO’s Da Ali G Show and while it didn’t get me to subscribe, I couldn’t wait to get the tapes on Monday morning.

Borat Sagdiyev (Sacha Baron Cohen), Kazakhstan’s second most successful journalist, is sent by his country to the “U S and A” to “make reportings” that would promote their cause. After a hilarious introduction to his native land, Borat lands in New York and is instantly smitten by a Baywatch rerun. Whatever thoughts he had about documenting America are quickly supplanting with images of “making sexy” with the Pamela Anderson.

Why not just make up a country like SCTV did with their beloved Leutonia, the land of the Schmenge? The same way film noir came about in response to World War II, 9/11 brought Americans horrifyingly close to realities that had been mercifully out of mind since the Vietnam war. Leutonia, Freedonia or Sylvania will no longer do.

Accompanying Borat is Azamat Bagatov (Ken Davitian), his, ineffectual, dumpster-sized and inordinately hairy producer. Azamat is not crazy about moving the shoot to Los Angeles, but eventually gives in to Borat’s unremitting pleas. Fed up, Azamat briefly quits his job to play Stan Laurel’s partner Adolf Hitler outside Grauman’s Chinese Theater.

Much of Da Ali G Show’shumor was confrontational and a lot of that makes its way into the feature. Baron Cohen has a set of cojones on him that make Stuttering John’s look pea-sized. During his cross-country joyride, Baron Cohen finds new meaning in Alan Funt’s old catchphrase, “People caught in the act of being themselves.” He loves placing the unwitting in an interview situation, turning on his candid camera and making them sweat.

According to the press notes, no one aside from the filmmakers was in on the joke. This is certainly true of Illinois State Senator and “man with chocolate face” Alan Keyes who has a spirited, but all too brief exchange with Borat concerning the homosexual. The security guards can plead ignorance, but surely Pamela Anderson had to be in on her “kidnapping.”

There is also a cowboy-hatted feller, fully aware that cameras are rolling, who practically calls for all queers to be flogged. The question of how much, if anything was divulged to the participants ahead of time will hopefully be answered on the DVD commentary track.

Borat arrived on the biggest wave of internet hypes since The Blair Witch Project. Two months ago, free screenings were announced on MySpace. Usually studios will hold two or three advance screenings. Borat had so many sneaks, it was the first time in my life I saw a film four times before it opened.

This type of guerilla-style filmmaking, particularly with a “person of interest” at its center, is bound to be met with more than a sideways glance. Several townsfolk brought the FBI on their tails after they reported the crew as suspected terrorists.

Baron Cohen had a warrant issued for his arrest in New York, the same city that forced executive producer Monica Levinson and first assistant director Dale Stern to spend a night in jail for “borrowing” items from their hotel to use as props.

Even though advance word was through the roof, the ADL’s admonishment caused 2oth Century Fox to scale back the release from a couple thousand screens to a scant 837. The generally dependable boxofficeguru.com predicted an $11 million opening weekend. Borat took in $26.3, making it oneof the most successful modest wide releases ever.

It is so hard to make an anti-racism film without avoiding self-righteousness and finger-wagging. As much as I admire Bamboozled, it sho’am preachy. As with any great satirist, Baron Cohen tells you nothing and shows you everything.