Nov 28, 2006 01:48 AM
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Dir: Larry Charles.
Cast: Sacha Baron Cohen, Ken Davitian.
This is the most toe-curlingly offensive film I have ever seen ...and I loved it. Wars have been started over lesser things than the outrageous antics of Kazakhstan's premier TV reporter Borat Sagdiyev. His creator, genius comic Sacha Baron Cohen, takes comedy to the extreme and then some.
He spouts his vile racist, sexist and warped views in an east to west road trip across the US in a bid to marry former Baywatch star Pamela Anderson. So it's no wonder real-life Kazakhstan President Nazarbayev is incensed by the British funnyman's grotesque creation.
Designed to offend African-Americans, Asians, Jews, gays, politicians, rednecks, women and more Jews, it’s gob-smackingly offensive. And it’s already legendary. At times I was forced to watch through my fingers as he pushed his unwitting victims to extremes while the crew filmed their mystified and appalled reactions.
"In my country they would go crazy for these two," he says, pointing to the glamorous god-fearing female hosts at a dinner party. Then points at the dowdy wife of the pastor, with a: "Not you so much." Cue close-up on her fuming husband.
Borat demonstrates just what a ridiculously polite society we have become, tolerating obscene behaviour as merely cultural differences. For him, only people with "retardation" come lower than females in social status. So chaos ensues when one dinner guest says he's retired. "You are a retard?" Borat screeches, before turning to the host, "You are very good to invite a retard to dinner."
Then there's the politician who happily munches on cheese Borat offers him until he proudly explains it is made from his wife's breast milk. The poor guy recoils in disgust but carries on silently chewing.
Along the way, he takes a major swipe at the US in every scene and it’s astonishing he manages to come out alive. His initial attempts to make friends in a subway train are met with hostility bordering on physical aggression. Borat being Borat, he decides to calm the situation by releasing his pet cockerel in the carriage, and he also manages to convince a bunch of fervent evangelists that he’s not only saved but speaking in tongues.
Of course, it's not hard for him to find Yanks who are prompted by Borat's bigoted outpourings to speak their minds. At a Texas rodeo Borat has the sense to shut up and let an old soak spout off. "If I see someone with a moustache like yours I think he's a Muslim with a bomb strapped to him," he drawls. "I'd shave it off if I were you."
In one completely outrageous moment, Borat asks a gun shop owner which weapon would be best to "shoot the Jews". Without skipping a beat the man replies: "Well, that would be a 9 millimetre or .45." Pammie herself is an incredibly good sport when they come face to face at the end of his road trip. He uses the age-old Kazakh trick of attempting to kidnap her to force her into marriage."I'll even let you have your own plough," he shouts as she flees.
Everywhere he goes, calamity follows, not least if his bedraggled producer is in tow — their show-stopping naked wrestling bout proving to be one of many comic highlights on offer.
The film’s slim running time (not usually a great sign) is also one of its strengths — it’s hard to laugh non-stop for ninety minutes. With regular Curb Your Enthusiasm director Larry Charles at the helm, it’s not only a masterpiece of character comedy but of comic timing.
This comedy is NOT for the easily offended. You have been warned.
