Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan (15)
Dir. Larry Charles
Reviewed by Matt Adcock
Jagshemash! Breaking news just in from Kazakhstan; Borat Sagdiyev has made the funniest film of 2006. Yes, if you don’t find yourself laughing during Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan, you probably haven’t got a pulse.
Dangerously hilarious, precariously inflammatory and so ‘oh man he didn’t just say that… did he?’ that you’ll cringe, you’ll cry but most of all you’ll never forget this piece of razor sharp satire.
You know you’re in for something from way over the other side of the line marked ‘good taste’ when you read the Sun calling it “THE most appallingly crude and shocking movie ever made...” In fact nothing can adequately prepare you for this odyssey of wacky humour which is shot through with such biting subversive wit that it ends up making you question lots of the thoughts and motivations of an entire continent.
Borat’s film is a brilliant mockumentary which follows the fictional journalist from Kazakhstan as he travels to the US in order to bring back good practice that will help his home country develop economically and socially. His mission is somewhat jeopardised when he falls head over heels in love with Pamela Anderson after seeing an episode of Baywatch. Completely smitten he persuades his obese producer / travelling companion Azamat Bagatov (played with gusto by Ken Davitian) that rather than stay in New York, they undertake an ill advised road trip right across America in order to make an even less advised marriage proposal to the blonde uber babe herself.
Along the way they cross paths with a weird and wonderful selection of America’s populace – including feminists, red necks, hip hop fans and evangelical Christians to name but a few. Borat’s wide eyed faux innocence and energetically bigoted, misogynistic and anti-Semetic behaviour brings out some truly disturbing attitudes and lands him many highly comical ‘real’ situations. It’s often painful to watch the reactions he elicits when you remember that whilst he is acting, the people he meets are not… Borat is a great character, a new cinematic icon brought vividly to life by creator Sacha Baron ‘Ali G’ Cohen.
Hear that? That’s the sound of ground being broken as real people reveal their prejudices and hypocrisies on camera. Borat stands out in the crowded comedy marketplace as a truly memorable slice of edutainment and for me is one of the films of the year!
Darkmatters rating system (out of 5):
Action ööö - slap that stick brother and hit the road
Laughs ööööö – danger: funniest film of the year warning!
Horror ööö – caution don't ever go 'ass to mouth' with your producer
Babes ööö – Pammy?
Overall öööö (Genius at work...)
"Borat realised he might not win the 'miss Kazakhstan beachwear contest' but he gave it his best shot!"
Read my interview with the great man: http://darkmatt.blogspot.com/2006/10/matt-adcock-meets-borat.html
Darkmatters: H O M E
No comments:
Post a Comment