Borat: Cultural Learnings of America (Larry Charles, 2006)

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MichaelB
Joined: Fri Aug 11, 2006 6:20 pm
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#101 Post by MichaelB » Mon Nov 13, 2006 11:31 am

Antoine Doinel wrote:As the film probably wasn't shot in sequence, you can't really say how much or how little Charles or Phillips "directed". I'm pretty sure the film was only in its early stages when Phillips left. It took five months for shooting to resume again. The length of stalled filming leads me to believe that Charles and Cohen approached the film completely differently than Phillips had.
Almost certainly, but that still doesn't change my basic contention - which is that if this film has a single auteur, it's Sacha Baron Cohen.

Then again, I suspect most people would agree that the auteur of Curb Your Enthusiasm is Larry David, which also leaves Larry Charles out in the cold. But that's what happens if you insist on nominating a single individual as the presiding creative genius in what is clearly a primarily collaborative medium.

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Zumpano
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#102 Post by Zumpano » Mon Nov 13, 2006 1:04 pm

According to Contact Music and The Daily Mail in January 2005:
An associate of the producers tells British newspaper the DAILY MAIL, "Todd is a big fan of Sacha's but he was afraid to be involved with a project that has the potential to cause a riot wherever he goes.

"He's fearful of being blackballed in Hollywood for directing a movie which is so anti-American in its humour.

"He's also afraid that some of the victims of Sacha's humour, especially in the Deep South, will act on the death threats they have made."

The film-maker was previously thought to have left the movie because he disagreed with the actor on which direction the project should take.
I called him wimp because he was afraid to finish this film and made "School For Scoundrels" instead. I didn't realize he kept a story credit on the film. If Charles has directing credit, then by DGA rules wouldn't he have directed the majority of the film to receive that credit?

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Barmy
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#103 Post by Barmy » Mon Nov 13, 2006 1:27 pm

Anti-American? How is this film anti-American? All of the prankees are uniformly polite and hospitable. Even the guy in the antique shop. Wasn't there a story just today that Borat was punched by some yob in the UK? We don't act that way here.

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The Invunche
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#104 Post by The Invunche » Mon Nov 13, 2006 2:07 pm

I think that happened in New York.

rs98762001
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#105 Post by rs98762001 » Mon Nov 13, 2006 2:15 pm

Barmy wrote: We don't act that way here.
Borat spanked by angry Yank

Roger_Thornhill
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#106 Post by Roger_Thornhill » Mon Nov 13, 2006 2:31 pm

I don't think there's anything anti-American about it at all, there's bigots in every nation. If anything, most of the people depicted in this film were rather nice to him. I was surprised the antique shop owner didn't explode in rage after what Cohen did to his store. And I don't blame some of the New Yorkers telling Cohen to fuck off considering he was trying to kiss them, I wouldn't be too pleased either if some random guy tried to kiss me on a subway. Cohen knew where to go to get the reactions he wanted, which is probably why most of the film takes place in the south.

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Barmy
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#107 Post by Barmy » Mon Nov 13, 2006 2:41 pm

New York is not part of America. Duh squared.

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tryavna
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#108 Post by tryavna » Mon Nov 13, 2006 3:33 pm

If that took place right after he appeared in SNL, then what did he expect? You don't just go up and start talking to anybody in NYC at 1:00 in the morning!

But I like the idea of Hugh Laurie saving the day. Who would have expected it?

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exte
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#109 Post by exte » Wed Nov 15, 2006 2:53 am

I've never seen reviews this good for a comedy...
In an era of stale, formulaic comedies, this uproarious and ribald faux documentary is like a hit of pure oxygen.
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Claudia Puig
USA Today


Put on two pairs of underwear and try to stay dry through one of the most uproariously -- or, in the case of the nude wrestling scene between Borat and his morbidly obese producer, disgustingly -- funny movies in a very long time.
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Jack Mathews
New York Daily News


Uproariously funny.
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Leslie Felperin
Variety


Expect to laugh uproariously; expect to choke back horror and revulsion, often at yourself.
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Amy Biancolli
Houston Chronicle


Borat is gasp-for-breath, wipe-your-eyes, hurt-your-stomach, try-to-stop-laughing-so-you-don't-miss-the-next-funny-thing uproarious.
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Chris Hewitt (St. Paul)
St. Paul Pioneer Press


The most important thing to know about BORAT is that you will be appalled by what you see, and then you will be appalled by the way it makes you laugh. Uproariously. And with wild abandon.
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Andrea Chase
Killer Movie Reviews


Plucky, uproarious and totally uncompromising.
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Jeanne Aufmuth
Palo Alto Weekly

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Barmy
Joined: Mon May 16, 2005 3:59 pm

#110 Post by Barmy » Wed Nov 15, 2006 12:47 pm

The problem is, it isn't THAT funny. All these people who claim to be spitting coke, pissing their pants and/or blowing snot scare me. The humor is very repetitious and forced. The first time he says "vagine" it's funny; the tenth time, not so much. I enjoyed it a lot with a big rabid crowd, but I wouldn't have any interest seeing this on TV with a small group of people.

Cinesimilitude
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#111 Post by Cinesimilitude » Wed Nov 15, 2006 12:55 pm

Word.

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tavernier
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#112 Post by tavernier » Wed Nov 15, 2006 1:01 pm

Plucky, uproarious and totally uncompromising.
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Jeanne Aufmuth
Palo Alto Weekly
If it's uproarious to Mlle. Aufmuth, that's good enough for me...

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Barmy
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#113 Post by Barmy » Wed Nov 15, 2006 1:05 pm

She had me at "plucky".

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John Cope
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Location: where the simulacrum is true

#114 Post by John Cope » Sun Nov 26, 2006 1:28 am


Cinesimilitude
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#115 Post by Cinesimilitude » Sun Nov 26, 2006 1:38 am

John Cope wrote:So, what do we think of this?

http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,,1955930,00.html
Maybe he should check out the Borat/Ali G/Bruno stuff Cohen pulled on his own countrymen before he calls cohen anti-american.

marty

#116 Post by marty » Sun Nov 26, 2006 2:41 am

I happened to see Borat the other day with about eight other people in a small cinema. I think I would have enjoyed it more in a large packed cinema. Many parts were funny but I probably would have laughed more if I had heard others laughing rather than the echo of my own laughter.

Ironically, the same day a few hours later, I saw Bela Tarr's Satantango on DVD and I couldn't help comparing the characters in Satantango to those in the Kazakhstan as depicted in Borat, as a comical but illogical comparison, of course.

JabbaTheSlut
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#117 Post by JabbaTheSlut » Sun Nov 26, 2006 7:30 am

Not so far fetched. Borat's Kazakhstan, is actually Romania, which borders with Bela's Hungary.

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Schkura
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#118 Post by Schkura » Sun Nov 26, 2006 9:06 am

But the men who flew the bombing raids over Berlin and the men who died at Omaha Beach and the women who built the Flying Fortresses and Sherman tanks that helped defeat Hitler are the very same people that Baron Cohen pisses all over in Borat. A lot of folks named Cohen would not even be here making anti-American movies if it were not for the hayseeds he despises.
Ah, the old we-saved-your-asses-in-WWII routine. Thanks to the link to that article, Mr. Cope-- it is probably the least useful thing I have read in a long time. :D One of the things that Cohen as Borat points out every time is how seriously most people take themselves, particularly when they are being filmed. No one is above being taken down a notch in our culture and, in fact, practically everyone and every group DESERVES it.

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tavernier
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#119 Post by tavernier » Sun Nov 26, 2006 9:35 am

The funniest line in the Guardian piece:
Joe Queenan is an American film critic.
Oh really? Since when?

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Lemmy Caution
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#120 Post by Lemmy Caution » Sun Nov 26, 2006 10:55 am

What a superficial take. I guess his whole argument would fall apart if Borat was played by a christian American. Also, there is the odd implication that Jewish comedians shouldn't parody or make fun of America or Americans. I always like how America gets credit for winning WWII, but you never hear America faulted for causing the decade-long world-wide depression which helped bolster both fascism and communism as viable alternatives. All of which has essentially nothing to do with Borat. Yes, the shallow 2-minute political analysis of Borat is pathetically hollow..

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HerrSchreck
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#121 Post by HerrSchreck » Sun Nov 26, 2006 11:31 am

America helped win the victory in WW2 but those who say we "won the war" are just flag waving (and giving sentiment due where it always is after a won war-- to it's Dead Guys). That painful bleeding victory was earned by the Russians during their slow, long hard costly slog westward. We helped speed the inevitable.

Roger_Thornhill
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#122 Post by Roger_Thornhill » Sun Nov 26, 2006 2:49 pm

Lemmy Caution wrote: I always like how America gets credit for winning WWII, but you never hear America faulted for causing the decade-long world-wide depression which helped bolster both fascism and communism as viable alternatives. .
That's because to make such a simplistic claim would be just as misquided as saying the "US saved the world" in WWII. Germany had economic and political turmoil throughout the 1920s (with a brief period of economic growth in the mid-20s), long before the impact of the US depression could be felt globally. Russia descended into civil war in 1917 primarily because of the pounding the Russian lower classes were taking during WWI. The seeds of communism and fascism were planted well before 1929 and the Treaty of Versailles guaranteed the West would destroy itself again. I wonder what the world would be like had the guns of August stayed silent? Straying too far off topic...sorry!

I'm planning on seeing Borat for the second time today with my visiting sister who happens to be a proud feminist and unashamed fan of Borat on Da Ali G Show - I can't wait.

Commander Shears
Joined: Thu Oct 19, 2006 2:17 pm

#123 Post by Commander Shears » Mon Nov 27, 2006 12:08 am

I am curious how many fans of the show are as disappointed with the film as I.

Obviously Borat's best sketches on 'Ali G' consisted of Cohen using Borat's anti-Semitism and/or homophobia to encourage others to let their guards down from their own biases. Unfortunately, the film not only relied far too heavily on scripted scenes, but conspicuously stayed away from those exact same scenarios. The most anti-Semitic content was Borat at home, presumably surrounded by actors, Borat alone in the B&B, and conversations with his producer. A racist character in a scripted sketch can be fine, but I've certainly seen better. Meanwhile, unknowing subjects like the Southern shop owner, and the drunken fratboys are let off virtually scot-free. A cowboy lets out that he would like to kill all homosexuals, and Borat does nothing to prod him for more. A man pines for the days of Dixie and slavery, and Cohen can do nothing but resort to a weak Chevy Chase knock-off. For me, every political defense of this movie only describes the film I wish had been made, but unfortunately was not.

'Throw the Jew Down the Well' accomplished more in three minutes than this film does in ninety.

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tavernier
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#124 Post by tavernier » Mon Nov 27, 2006 12:19 am

Commander Shears wrote:'Throw the Jew Down the Well' accomplished more in three minutes than this film does in ninety.
It's only 84 minutes, no?

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MichaelB
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#125 Post by MichaelB » Mon Nov 27, 2006 3:06 am

tavernier wrote:It's only 84 minutes, no?
I suspect the 'Throw The Jew Down The Well' sequence doesn't run for exactly three minutes either.

Which of course utterly invalidates everything Commander Shears wrote - how on earth can we take him seriously after such abysmal lack of attention to detail? I bet he's the kind of person who quotes Monty Python sketches and doesn't care about getting them exactly word perfect.

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