Borat:
Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan
Year: 2006
Director: Larry Charles
Starring: Sacha Baron Cohen & Ken Davitian
Runtime: 84 mins
BBFC: 15
Published: 03/11/20
Director: Larry Charles
Starring: Sacha Baron Cohen & Ken Davitian
Runtime: 84 mins
BBFC: 15
Published: 03/11/20
I’m sure that most people can agree that when you were a kid there were always those films that gained popularity among young people because they were in some way controversial. Whether it be a horror film that was super gory, a thriller that had a raunchy sex scene in it, or a comedy that was loaded with offensive humour. One such phenomenon when I was younger was Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan.
Sacha Baron Cohen had made a name for himself in the late 90’s and early 00’s with his various characters based on stereotypes such as Ali G, Bruno, and of course Borat. Ali G even got his own film in 2002, so it seemed only natural that Cohen would follow suit with his other popular characters. So when it came time for Borat’s film, Cohen put his target on the U.S.A in order to expose everyday prejudices held by many of their citizens.
The plot of the film is that Borat is a TV presenter for a Kazakh TV station, who has decided to send him to America in order to learn some aspects of their culture so the country can adopt them and increase their recognition around the world. When he arrives in America we see a series of scenarios where Borat meets an unsuspecting member of the public and is taught some aspect of western culture. Cohen then tries his best as Borat to make the situation as awkward or as difficult for the person as possible by being overtly sexual, anti-semitic, homophobic, sexist, or generally irritating.
Off the bat I’m going to state that I’m really not the type of person this film is made for. I don’t tend to find humour that is intentionally offensive funny, I’m also not a massive fan of pranks. So it goes without saying that I don’t think Borat is a particularly enjoyable film because that’s its whole shtick. However there are some sequences I do find rather enjoyable and it’s the ones where he manages to coerce people into saying or doing things that reveal just how dangerous or elitist some members of society are. Sequences like where he attends a fancy dinner after having etiquette lessons. This sequence is very memorable because Cohen doesn’t do or say a lot before the reigns are seemingly taken away from him to reveal the prejudices and outdated world views of those in attendance at the meal. Another memorable scene at a rodeo sees Borat proclaim to a stadium of people that he hopes the U.S kills every Iraqi man, woman, and child in their plight to win the war on terror which is met with thunderous applause and cheers from the audience. It is things like these that do make Borat an interesting watch because these types of scene are so clearly unscripted and come from deep seated social paranoias and discriminations. Even the opening where Borat tours his home village and introduces the locals is funny because it plays up this stereotype of an ignorant westerners view of anything outside their home country.
Sacha Baron Cohen had made a name for himself in the late 90’s and early 00’s with his various characters based on stereotypes such as Ali G, Bruno, and of course Borat. Ali G even got his own film in 2002, so it seemed only natural that Cohen would follow suit with his other popular characters. So when it came time for Borat’s film, Cohen put his target on the U.S.A in order to expose everyday prejudices held by many of their citizens.
The plot of the film is that Borat is a TV presenter for a Kazakh TV station, who has decided to send him to America in order to learn some aspects of their culture so the country can adopt them and increase their recognition around the world. When he arrives in America we see a series of scenarios where Borat meets an unsuspecting member of the public and is taught some aspect of western culture. Cohen then tries his best as Borat to make the situation as awkward or as difficult for the person as possible by being overtly sexual, anti-semitic, homophobic, sexist, or generally irritating.
Off the bat I’m going to state that I’m really not the type of person this film is made for. I don’t tend to find humour that is intentionally offensive funny, I’m also not a massive fan of pranks. So it goes without saying that I don’t think Borat is a particularly enjoyable film because that’s its whole shtick. However there are some sequences I do find rather enjoyable and it’s the ones where he manages to coerce people into saying or doing things that reveal just how dangerous or elitist some members of society are. Sequences like where he attends a fancy dinner after having etiquette lessons. This sequence is very memorable because Cohen doesn’t do or say a lot before the reigns are seemingly taken away from him to reveal the prejudices and outdated world views of those in attendance at the meal. Another memorable scene at a rodeo sees Borat proclaim to a stadium of people that he hopes the U.S kills every Iraqi man, woman, and child in their plight to win the war on terror which is met with thunderous applause and cheers from the audience. It is things like these that do make Borat an interesting watch because these types of scene are so clearly unscripted and come from deep seated social paranoias and discriminations. Even the opening where Borat tours his home village and introduces the locals is funny because it plays up this stereotype of an ignorant westerners view of anything outside their home country.
But the majority of the film is simply Cohen doing or saying offensive things either to the camera or to his co-stars who are in on the act and then the scene moves somewhere else. For example the film has a fixation on Borat falling in love with Pamela Anderson, so he plans to kidnap her and make her his slave wife. He discusses this to several parties who are all actors in on the gag and they simply agree with him. This is not funny, nor is it an effective commentary on any type of society. There’s a sequence where Cohen and co-star Ken Davitian chase each other naked through a hotel, what part of that is funny? These many sections lack the nuance and subtlety needed for actual satirical comedy, and instead just strive to be the loudest and most offensive as they can be whilst still getting past censors.
The film doesn’t have particularly great production values, but considering it was made on a budget of just $18 million this is somewhat excusable. But when compared to other low budget documentaries and mockumentaries Borat does lack a certain level of finesse. Whether this is supposed to be a statement about the perceived abilities of Kazakh people or whether this is just an oversight on the filmmakers part I’m not sure, but I’m more inclined to believe it’s an oversight because the film does feel so flimsy overall. There’s not a lot of structure, nor any goal in sight for much of the film and every good documentary have something it strives to say or achieve.
I feel like Borat is a film made for thirteen year old boys. It’s needlessly offensive and crude in the name of satire, yet doesn’t have the intelligence to actually understand what satire is much of the time. Whilst there are certainly a few golden moments that lay within, it’s not worth digging around in a mountain of crap to find them. But as I said when I opened this review, Borat was never my kind of comedy so I was never going to particularly enjoy it. Now excuse me whilst I go back to my Monty Python for some true satire.
The film doesn’t have particularly great production values, but considering it was made on a budget of just $18 million this is somewhat excusable. But when compared to other low budget documentaries and mockumentaries Borat does lack a certain level of finesse. Whether this is supposed to be a statement about the perceived abilities of Kazakh people or whether this is just an oversight on the filmmakers part I’m not sure, but I’m more inclined to believe it’s an oversight because the film does feel so flimsy overall. There’s not a lot of structure, nor any goal in sight for much of the film and every good documentary have something it strives to say or achieve.
I feel like Borat is a film made for thirteen year old boys. It’s needlessly offensive and crude in the name of satire, yet doesn’t have the intelligence to actually understand what satire is much of the time. Whilst there are certainly a few golden moments that lay within, it’s not worth digging around in a mountain of crap to find them. But as I said when I opened this review, Borat was never my kind of comedy so I was never going to particularly enjoy it. Now excuse me whilst I go back to my Monty Python for some true satire.