Gullible Travels
Borat Mock-umentary Both Hysterical and Annoying

The media and promotional hype surrounding the comedy film Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan is by far the most excessive I can remember for a relatively low-budget movie since the release of The Blair Witch Project. Fortunately, in the case of Borat, the movie itself is equal to the hype…for the most part.

The character of Kazakh journalist Borat Sagdiyev is the brainchild of British comedian Sacha Baron Cohen, and is a regular feature on his HBO series Da Ali G Show.

British comedian Sacha Baron Cohen, aka Borat Sagdiyev, travels across the United States for his new film Borat.

As a character, Borat is both an unworldly innocent and the victim of prejudicial and stereotypical notions that have been handed down to him from his family and countrymen. The set-up for Baron Cohen’s mock-umentary is to have Borat travel across the United States to see how he reacts to our multi-ethnic society and how it reacts to him.

Some of the funniest moments in the film are in the run-up to Borat’s cross-country odyssey, when he introduces viewers to his village in Kazakhstan. There we meet his sister “number four prostitute in all of Kazakhstan,” his bullying wife Oksana, and the town rapist.

Once he arrives in America, Baron Cohen uses his the character of Borat the foreigner to help expose our own problems with racism, anti-Semitism, misogyny through satire and laugh-out-loud humor.

Borat was written by and produced by Baron Cohen and Jay Roach (the director of the Austin Powers movies) and directed by Larry Charles (Seinfeld).

“I think what Sacha does in this film is revolutionary,” said Roach. “He’s created a totally believable, hilarious, fish-out-of-water character. Then Sacha takes Borat into often dangerous predicaments with real people who have to believe that Borat is authentic the entire time—or else Sacha could face series consequences. That’s fantastic suspense.

“Sacha takes risks like no performer I’m aware of. He’s a true comedic high-wire act. On top of that, whatever these real people do in the scene not only drives the scene, but changes the direction of the story.”

Borat the movie relies on the concept that all of the participants in the film are honestly being themselves while on camera. But it is obvious that many people in the film are more in on the joke than others are. The film works best when the Baron Cohen plays it straight and lets the other people react as they naturally would, such in the rodeo scene where he sings a bastardized version of the Kazakh national anthem sung to the tune of “The Star-Spangled Banner” or when he asks a gun dealer which weapon would be best to shoot Jews.

The film seems a little stilted and forced, however, when the interviewees and other participants are in the know, such as when Borat attempts to kidnap Pamela Anderson and make her his bride. And then, there are the simply physical humor sketches that vary wildly from the mildly humorous bit of Borat accidentally breaking antiques in a store to the hysterical extended scene of Borat and his obese producer Azamat Bagatov fighting nude in a hotel room.

Borat is the funniest movie to come to theaters this year. That no other movie comes close to it says more about the sorry state of cinematic comedy this year than about the outright hilarity of this film. If you want to immerse yourself in the total Borat experience, be sure to witness this film in a crowded theater where the laughs are contagious.

Borat is rated R for pervasive strong crude humor and sexual content including graphic nudity, and language.

Borat Participants Sue

Two college students who played themselves in the movie are now suing the producers of Borat for fraud, saying the makers of the movie duped them into appearing in the film by getting them drunk. Both of the unnamed college students are from South Carolina and were filmed making disparaging remarks against women and minorities. Both young men signed waivers, but claim that the makers of the film assured them that the movie would never be aired in the United States.

The plaintiffs’ lawyer, Oliver Tailleiu, stated that fallout from the movie cost one student “a very prestigious internship” and cost the other one a job a major corporation.

The suit seeks unspecified monetary damages and a court order requiring footage of the plaintiffs to be removed from the film. A spokesperson for 20th Century Fox, the distributor for Borat said, “the lawsuit has no merit.”

Borat earned $67.8 million at the box office in its first ten days of release.