Borat is one of the most hilarious films I’ve ever seen, and it’s on my favorites list. I’m not sure if this movie made Sacha Baron Cohen one of the most popular actors through the American public. It is a metaphor, it is ironic, it is brilliant. The mockumentary concept is not new, but was triple refined in this case. Borat is one of the best comedies ever made, it made my Best 20, and not only. I’m afraid, it wasn’t wholly appreciated in USA and in Romania. You see, the Romanians are very proud (at least, so they like to fashion themselves), and they took offense in block for everything related to a Gypsy connection. It wasn’t the first time in history when someone presented different views on things made to look in a certain way. The Hungarians, and the French are already famous for offending the Romanian officials.
Borat in “Kazakhstan”
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Strangely, in this case, where Borat presented his “home” and “village” from Kazakhstan, which was filmed in a Gypsy village in Romania, not the officials took offense, but the villagers. The name of the village is Glod (of some Slavic origin), meaning “mud”. The Gypsies who were paid a “fortune” to become cinema stars (approximate between $5 to $70 per person), were duped by Ed Fagan, the controversial disbarred attorney, “famous” for suing Swiss Banks for return of art work stolen in Holocaust, to sue Borat production for “cruelly misrepresentation”. It was stupid, the villagers became definitively ridicule, and the movie cashed even more.
Mahir Çağrı and Sacha Baron Cohen
The inspiration for Borat, at least physically, seems to be a Turk from Izmir, Mahir Çağrı, who became some internet legend after putting up a web page in 1999 featuring pictures of himself playing ping pong and laying down in some tight red Speedo shorts, and other short and significant statements, as “I like sex”.
“My tall 1.84 cm (6.2 feet) My weight 78 kg. My eyes green .. I live alone !!!!!! I have car.” “Who is want to come TURKEY I can invitate …… She can stay my home.” – excerpts from the original site www.ikissyou.org
A first video in this post is an interview with Mahir. Tipical. [300k views per day is something, but there weren’t that many things to challenge this sort of crap in 1999, and the guy came again in focus, after the comedy launched. More to his fame and a lot more for the film’s box office (over $256 Mil.)]
Ninety eight per cent of the English speaking Turks (around o.o1 per thousand of the population living in Turkey), speak like this guy. Much less than those numbers have achieved Mahir’s sexual fulfillment at the time. Mahir was the Turkish Dream. I haven’t searched if he sued as well.
The result of being famous: You make famous fans.
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Casting in this ironic comedy is formed mainly by Sacha Baron Cohen as Borat Sagdiyev, Ken Davitian as Azamat Bagatov, Luenell Campbell as Luenell the prostitute, Pamela Anderson as Herself. Pamela Anderson plays a central role in the film as the reason for Borat’s cross country journey. She also appears at the end of the film.
Borat (Sacha Baron Cohen) singing the National Anthem with his own words.
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Borat is a journalist from Kazakhstan, distinguished by strong misogyny, anti-Semitism and “antiziganism” (I have to confess it was the first time I ever heard of the term. Antiziganism or Anti-Romanyism or Anti-Gypsyism is hostility, prejudice or racism directed at the Romani people, also known as Gypsies – from Wikipedia). He travels America to do a documentary to “make benefit glorious nation of Kazakhstan”. The producer of Borat’s documentary, Azamat (played by Davitian), is most known as “The fat guy from Borat”, and a comic scene in a hotel. A lot of other real people were part of this comic documentary. A great majority of them sued the production.
Borat poster
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Released in 2006
imdb rated 7.4
Directed by Larry Charles
Writers: Sacha Baron Cohen, Anthony Hines, Peter Baynham, Dan Mazer
Actors: Sacha Baron Cohen, Ken Davitian, Luenell, Pamela Anderson and some others…
Down here, you have one of the movie trailers, the one which is not spoiling the subject and the second video on this post.
This was a movie I have truly enjoyed. I hope you will like it too.
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Copyright © 2012 Rodolfo Grimaldi Blog – Borat
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