There are few films that compare to Sacha Baron Cohen's Borat. It's a social experiment disguised as a joke. An honest look at how people behave when their guard is down, and how they react when their patience is tested. Let's dive into what makes this film so impactful, and why it's still quoted to this day.
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Fun Fact: After making initial press statements calling the movie "insulting", Kazakhstan eventually softened their stance and capitalized on the publicity to boost their tourism industry, even going as far as launching the slogan "Kazakhstan. Very Nice!"
The fact that Sacha Baron Cohen is both Borat and King Julien is hilarious
The physical DVD for this movie is disguised as a burnt disc. Literally I put this movie down 2 times bc I thought it was a burnt copy but nope it’s supposed to look like that.
"do not try shrink me Gypsy".....what a line
With so many cameras right in people's faces, I struggle with how "authentic" the people are...
I remember I was Borat for Halloween in 2017 and I got so many photos and laughs. The next day people tried to say I was a racist sexist online.
It's funny how Borat somehow snowballed into the entire soulslike/singleplayer game community calling everything that is not humanoid a dog.
I think a huge part of Borat is showing how Americans (and the British as well) are so EASILY convinced that a person from a foreign country so "far" away would act this way. I live in Croatia and when I went to the US people had no idea which continent I was from, asked me if we have electricity, etc. I mean yeah power does go out often, but that's not the point lol The ignorance and lack of education or common knowledge on display is the real joke. The character is funny by himself, which helps a ton.
Sasha Baron Cohen doesn’t get the credit he deserves… his characters with Borat, Ali G and Bruno changed the comedy scene in the 2000’s. And some his stunts put him in serious trouble and he does it fearlessly… he’s a master performance artist, paved the way for such as Eric Andre and Nathan Fielder
Pamela Anderson and a few other celebrities were “in” on some of Borat’s antics. Also, I’ve lived with roommates who are actually from Kazakhstan and while they still hate him for his portrayals of their country, they understand what he did for humanity’s expositions and putting their country on the map. I still haven’t been yet, but Kazakhstan is a beautiful country with beautiful people. If only people were smart enough to understand Borat’s purpose of exposing their truths of being self-aware.
This movie should be made again today... People are a lot less polite than they were 20 years ago lol
I love him so much. He is a comedy genius. The way he doesn’t break in front of real people is insane
It’s a type of entrapment. He brilliantly manipulates non-confrontational people by getting a foot in with their polite saving-face and then tries to continue to stretch them away from their normal behavior to side with him on something controversial. Cohen is a genius and an incredible actor, but I don’t believe that the rabbit holes he’s able to get folks to climb into with him actually always reflect the character of the person.
I *KNOW* it's satire, but Borat always seems like a documentary to me. Useless fact: dude has a double-barrelled last name (i.e. Baron Cohen rather than Cohen by itself).
There are very few things in this world which have made me laugh as much as this movie did, and that's without even counting the naked wrestling scene.
I remember buying it on DVD, the guy in the shop showed distain for it which was odd because its his job to sell things. I don't think he understood the satire.
Borat exposes xenophobia, Bruno exposes homophobia and Ali G exposes everything.
I wouldn't say it "snuck" into theaters. It was pretty anticipated in certain circles. The tv show had already been picked up by HBO 3 years prior.
As a fellow Jewish person, watching Cohen (a Jewish man) is cathartic and hilarious. The scene where Borat accidentally boards with a lovely Jewish couple is top tier comedy.
The scene where they're running naked through the hotel is genuinely insane and the fact that they NEVER broke character is even crazier.