Borat

I am a convert. I have never been a fan of Borat before now, I found Ali G amusing but Borat never appealed to me, however I was willing to give the film a chance, based on all the positive reviews I have read and have to admit, they have a point. Depending on your taste you will probably love or hate this film that at least has to be admired for its bravery, guts and sheer lack of political correctness. Now many people have moralised over the meaning of the film and the way it uses the character of Borat to uncover people’s hidden prejudices, but I think any deep analysis of the film is missing the point. This is purely comedy for the most part, if it has a point along the way then that’s great but with the inclusion of sections of the film that obviously contain actors alongside hidden came footage of people not in on the joke it becomes a tricky film to work out any truth from. In fact the knowledge you have about the style of Borat’s interviews can take away from the film because it leaves you questioning his methods and wondering if something is genuine or not, rather than focusing on the story. Yes the film has a story, and in fact does a good job of turning Borat’s small 5 minute sketches into a feature length film by having him and his rather useless producer scour America firstly to make a documentary, and secondly to try and lead Borat to Pamela Anderson, the woman he believes is destined to be his future wife. The character of Borat is wonderfully played by Cohen, he is just the right side of caricature to make him believable and comes out with the most offensive and funniest things, parts of the film do make you cringe, but under all Borat’s bigotry and misguided judgements there is a person there and there is a deft subtle quality to some of the scenes that make you care for Borat more than you might think. Basically the film is very very funny, it is also completely outrageous, featuring one particular wrestling match that I would be very happy never to witness again, though its sheer nerve did make me laugh. There isn’t much more to say about the film really, chances are you already know if you will like the film and this kind of humour appeals to you. Unlike many comedies Borat manages to sustain the jokes, be they from his situations or his wonderfully inaccurate voiceovers, throughout the running time. The film is not quite as big and clever as it may want to be seen but it is funny if you like this kind of thing and Cohen’s risqué style of humour is definitely unlike anything you will have seen before. Dangerous and hilarious Borat works surprisingly well as a feature film and goes places few would dare follow. Not for the feint hearted, but if this is your thing you could well laugh yourself silly.