Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan (2006)

Kazakh TV talking head Borat is dispatched to the United States to report on the greatest country in the world. With a documentary crew in tow, Borat becomes more interested in locating and marrying Pamela Anderson.

Director:

Larry Charles

Writers:

Sacha Baron Cohen (screenplay), Anthony Hines (screenplay),

Stars:

Sacha Baron Cohen, Ken Davitian, Luenell

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 18 wins & 15 nominations.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Sacha Baron Cohen	...	Borat
Ken Davitian	...	Azamat
Luenell	...	Luenell
Chester	...	Bear
Charlie	...	Bear

Storyline

Borat Sagdiyev is a TV reporter of a popular show in Kazakhstan as Kazakhstan's sixth most famous man and a leading journalist. He is sent from his home to America by his government to make a documentary about American society and culture. Borat takes a course in New York City to understand American humor. While watching Baywatch on TV, Borat discovers how beautiful their women are in the form of C. J. Parker, who was played by actress Pamela Anderson who hails from Malibu, California. He decides to go on a cross-country road trip to California in a quest to make her his wife and take her back to his country. On his journey Borat and his producer encounter a country full of strange and wonderful Americans, real people in real chaotic situations with hysterical consequences.

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Plot Keywords:

california | kazakhstan | travel | tv reporter | new york city | 

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Taglines:

Come to Kazakhstan, It's Nice!

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Genres:

Comedy

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for pervasive strong crude and sexual content including graphic nudity, and language

Details

Official Sites:

MySpace

Country:

USA

Language:

English Romanian Hebrew Polish Armenian

Release Date:

3 November 2006 (USA)

Also Known As:

Borat

Filming Locations:

Virginia, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$18,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$938,444 (Australia) (17 November 2006)

Gross:

$128,505,958 (USA) (23 March 2007)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Four by Two, Everyman Pictures, Dune Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

84 min 82 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The European Center for Antiziganism Research, which works against negative attitudes against Roma and Sinti people, accused the producers of defamation and inciting violence against the ethnic group. Thus, it filed a complaint with prosecutors in Germany (October 2006).

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Goofs

When Borat is in the antique shop wrecking havoc, he steps on a toy dump truck. The truck causes him to trip thereby destroying many antiques. At this point the truck is kicked out of view, when Borat gets back up the truck is mysteriously underfoot again causing another trip and more comic destruction.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Borat: Jak sie masz? My name-a Borat. I like you. I like sex. Is nice!
["How are you?" in Polish]

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Crazy Credits

Opening credits, closing credits, and identifier subtitles in the story are in the Cyrillic alphabet. The subtitles are obliterated by superimposed English translations. In the end credits, the Cyrillic words are in the background, with the English translations in front.

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Connections

References Casablanca (1942)

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Soundtracks

"The Blood Will Never Lose Its Power"
(1957)
Written by Andraé Crouch

User Reviews

America through the eyes of a Kazakh.

This movie was probably most and the highest criticized from Kazahkstan itself. Unrigthfully so. The movie doesn't make fun of Kazahkstan, it makes fun of Americans, in a criticizing way. Kazahkstan is merely used as a platform to show the (of course exaggerated) contrasts between the advanced and 'civilized' America and the simplistic Kazakhstan and how a simplistic man, from such a simplistic place, such as Borat Sagdiyev (Sacha Baron Cohen) is capable of pinching right through the advanced and civilized Americans and puts his finger right on the spot. The movie is about Borat learning from America and Americans. for the benefits of his country Kazakhstan but the question raises; Shouldn't America and Americans also learn from simplistic countries such as Kazakhstan, for their own good and benefits?

Just like in Michael Moore movies often is the case, Borat knows to put his finger on the right place and manages to show America how it really is. An uptight, patriotic, homophobic, God fearing, anti-social country, in which minorities still have a hard time and not all rights are considered equal to some. It's funny, in the interviews it often is not Borat who says the most offensive things, it are the interviewees who do so, such as the rodeo-guy and the frat boys.

But no, the movie is not all criticism. For most part it's just a fun and often also hilarious people about making fun of ignorant people.

In all honesty it's hard to tell how much of the movie was actually improvised and how much of it was real. Obviously some sequences were scripted such as all the scene's in Kazakhstan and some other sequences will make you really doubt. Some of obviously planned the camera-positions are often too coincidental and also the fact that the movie had an actual professional director attached to it, makes you really wonder. It also is hard to imaging that all those people actually took this silly talking and looking character so seriously as they did in this movie all the time. When a person who wears his underwear above his pants and is talking slang is entering your hotel with a camera-crew following him, wouldn't you crack up, realizing that this just can't be for real? The movie is also edited in such a way that the emotions and reactions get exaggerated. It's also are the reasons why you can't really call this movie a fake documentary or mockumentary.

What I loved about the "Da Ali G Show", in which Borat often made an appearance, was that it was improvised, real, often had no point and was all about the responses of the other person on the Sacha Baron Cohen characters. It was fun to see the peoples reactions and how they did respond to the character and its outrageous and often also offensive questions. This movie is overwritten in my opinion. The movie has a main plot line in in, in which Borat falls for non other than Pamela Anderson and makes it his personal mission to find her and marry her. In my opinion the improvising way of traveling through the USA and meeting and interviewing people would had worked way better, in both terms of criticism and humor. Now some parts in the movie feel planned and acted, which is definitely not Borat's strongest point. It also again raises the question of how much of the movie is actually improvised and how much of it was planned, though I definitely believe that most of the interviews and Borat with other people were for real. Ironic, since it was the screenplay that was actually being nominated for an Academy Award.

But all this criticism aside, this is a very fun and also often hilarious movie to watch. Some of the situations Borat gets himself into are priceless and the reactions from the ignorant persons are even more hilarious. They often don't know how to cope with this odd talking and looking character from the far away and insignificant country of Kazakhstan.

There are a couple of especially memorable sequences, such as when Borat and Azamat wrestle naked in their hotel room, after Azamat's 'hand-feast' and then start running naked through the hotel, elevators and eventually ending up wrestling naked in a convention room with hundreds of people in it. There are a couple of more hilarious and memorable sequences but no one really matches up to that moment, that totally catches you completely off guard.

It's all fast paced, which makes sure that you'll probably laugh your way non-stop trough this movie.

A perfectly fun and amusing movie that also has some striking criticism, that could had used some less story and perhaps should had been more like the show.

7/10

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