“Yakshemash!” Today Sacha Baron Cohen’s controversial movie opens called “Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for make benefit glorious nation of Kazakhstan.”
For all of you not familiar with the actual character of Borat, he is one of three characters Sacha Baron Cohen plays on his HBO series “Da Ali G Show.”
Borat is a seemingly dim-witted and naive television journalist from Kazakhstan who asks his interviewees ridiculous questions to get shocking and humorous responses. It’s done in such a way that the person he is interviewing has no idea that they are really the butt of an elaborate joke by someone who never breaks character.
No subject is taboo for him.
He has interviewed some very well known celebrities and government officials, some of whom have even walked out of the pseudo-interviews on camera.
From the film’s start in Borat’s hometown in Kazakhstan to his ending destination in California, there are no holds barred. It’s actually quite surprising that it didn’t elicit an NC-17 rating from the Motion Picture Association of America for some of the frontal male nudity and very long nude wrestling scene between Borat and his fat producer Azamat.
Everyone is a target: especially Jews, homosexuals and women. In one scene in his hometown, there is an annual “Running of the Jews” festival where people in large masks with horns run down the street chasing residents of the town. The female Jew even stops to lay an egg in the street, which the local children run out and destroy.
If Baron Cohen weren’t himself Jewish he would not probably be able to get away with half as much as he does in this film. So, if you find that you are easily offended by this kind of material, this is definitely not a film for you.
The story continues as he goes to New York City with Azamat to bring American culture back to Kazakhstan. While in New York, Borat comes across “Baywatch” and falls in love with Pamela Anderson. She then becomes his obsession as he travels across the United States to find her and marry her.
His mission to find out about America becomes secondary to finding Anderson. During his trip he always seems to find by luck, and editing of course, the most outrageous folks that prove there are still a lot of idiots and bigots in this country.
Cohen has definitely aroused quite a reaction so far from all of his Borat-ing. For a while now, the government of Kazakhstan has been trying to do something about their image that they feel he has tarnished by Borat. They’ve even tried to bring legal action against him.
You would think that they have other pressing matters to spend their time and money on, but apparently it’s not so. Instead, they have decided to use $40 million to benefit their glorious nation of Kazakhstan with a film of their own to set things straight.
The project is called “Nomad” and will be released by Bob and Harvey Weinstein who used to own Miramax. Hopefully it’s good, but it seems like a hugely misguided use of government money in a second world nation.
Either way, if you find Baron Cohen’s form of comedy smart and quite “Wawa-wiwa,” then this film will easily entertain you for the 82 minute running time. So, be prepared to laugh hard enough to make your $5 coke come out of your nose.
