Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan (2006)
Country: US
Technical: col 84m
Director: Larry Charles
Cast: Sacha Baron Cohen
Synopsis:
Kazakh TV reporter Borat Sagdiyev is sent with his producer to the USA in order to acquire some sort of civilized veneer to pass on to his country.
Review:
With Kazakhstan scenes actually shot in Romania - as any remotely informed person can probably guess from the start - the film disclaims any pretence at making factual statements about the titular country or its inhabitants, which is just as well. The film returns to the format of the Ali G. TV show, after the attempt at making a more conventional film comedy out of that character, and that much is the good news: there are a number of scenes in which Cohen wrongfoots unsuspecting American citizens (New Yorkers, hoteliers, feminists, rodeo spectators) with his disarming blend of aggressive brotherly love and insouciant vulgarity. How unsuspecting they were, one wonders, what with the omnipresent cameraman and, one presumes, Mr Charles, whose presence is of course never alluded to. In short the film does not even grant its viewer the intelligence assumed by the likes of a Cloverfield or a [REC]. The narrative is given unity by the intrepid reporter's infatuation with Pamela Anderson, rather like the Blues Brothers' 'mission from God', culminating in his throwing a sack over her head at a book signing, an event apparently real enough. A little of this goes a long way.
Country: US
Technical: col 84m
Director: Larry Charles
Cast: Sacha Baron Cohen
Synopsis:
Kazakh TV reporter Borat Sagdiyev is sent with his producer to the USA in order to acquire some sort of civilized veneer to pass on to his country.
Review:
With Kazakhstan scenes actually shot in Romania - as any remotely informed person can probably guess from the start - the film disclaims any pretence at making factual statements about the titular country or its inhabitants, which is just as well. The film returns to the format of the Ali G. TV show, after the attempt at making a more conventional film comedy out of that character, and that much is the good news: there are a number of scenes in which Cohen wrongfoots unsuspecting American citizens (New Yorkers, hoteliers, feminists, rodeo spectators) with his disarming blend of aggressive brotherly love and insouciant vulgarity. How unsuspecting they were, one wonders, what with the omnipresent cameraman and, one presumes, Mr Charles, whose presence is of course never alluded to. In short the film does not even grant its viewer the intelligence assumed by the likes of a Cloverfield or a [REC]. The narrative is given unity by the intrepid reporter's infatuation with Pamela Anderson, rather like the Blues Brothers' 'mission from God', culminating in his throwing a sack over her head at a book signing, an event apparently real enough. A little of this goes a long way.
Country: US
Technical: col 84m
Director: Larry Charles
Cast: Sacha Baron Cohen
Synopsis:
Kazakh TV reporter Borat Sagdiyev is sent with his producer to the USA in order to acquire some sort of civilized veneer to pass on to his country.
Review:
With Kazakhstan scenes actually shot in Romania - as any remotely informed person can probably guess from the start - the film disclaims any pretence at making factual statements about the titular country or its inhabitants, which is just as well. The film returns to the format of the Ali G. TV show, after the attempt at making a more conventional film comedy out of that character, and that much is the good news: there are a number of scenes in which Cohen wrongfoots unsuspecting American citizens (New Yorkers, hoteliers, feminists, rodeo spectators) with his disarming blend of aggressive brotherly love and insouciant vulgarity. How unsuspecting they were, one wonders, what with the omnipresent cameraman and, one presumes, Mr Charles, whose presence is of course never alluded to. In short the film does not even grant its viewer the intelligence assumed by the likes of a Cloverfield or a [REC]. The narrative is given unity by the intrepid reporter's infatuation with Pamela Anderson, rather like the Blues Brothers' 'mission from God', culminating in his throwing a sack over her head at a book signing, an event apparently real enough. A little of this goes a long way.