Original (and hilariously descriptive) title: “Borat Subsequent Moviefilm: Delivery of Prodigious Bribe to American Regime for Make Benefit Once Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan”
Follow-up film to the 2006 comedy centering on the real-life adventures of a fictional Kazakh television journalist named Borat.
Pam says: This sequel picks up with Borat (Sasha Baron Cohen), the disgraced Kazakh television journalist, after returning to his homeland and making a mockery of not only himself but his country. Sentenced to hard labor for the past 14 years, Borat receives a reprieve but of course there are strings attached. He must deliver a prize chimpanzee to Vice President Mike Pence and if he fails he will be executed. Before Borat embarks on his cargo ship adventure, he returns to his house to find that he is unwelcome due to his disgraceful behavior. He also finds that he has a “non-male offspring”–Sandra Jessica Parker Sagdiyev (Maria Bakalova). Pleading with her father to take her to the U.S., she smuggles herself along with the chimpanzee and arrives in the “United States & America.” The antics ensue as we watch incredulously bizarre set-ups unfold to unwitting recipients. It’s a similar feeling of having to look at the scene of an accident as you pass by.
With a cast of two, these are the only on-camera characters who are privy to the gags, but it is the rest of the real life characters who add all the unintentional punch lines. From happily decorating a large chocolate cake with the words “Jews will not replace us”–the chant by neo-Nazis after the devastating Charlottesville slaughter–to the man who unquestioningly placed young Sandra Jessica Parker Sagdiyev back into a cargo box, hammering her into this coffin-like compartment with no hesitation. The list of situations that Baron Cohen devises to shed light on our nation’s ignorance and uneducated complacency is initially humorous but ultimately it’s maddening. That anger isn’t toward the messenger, it’s a simple recognition that we, as a country, have become a laughing stock.
Equally jaw-dropping is the amount of prep work Baron Cohen’s team must have done in order to give them access to film Republican conventions, women’s organizations, medical doctors offices (who’s doctor will hopefully be professionally reprimanded after this airs) and even our own president’s personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani. His “part” in the film is the most strikingly disgusting as we wonder what would have happened had Baron Cohen not jumped in to save Bakalova. One might even argue that he saved Guiliani.
Is this a skewed film? Absolutely. But we know that going into it. Is it a slice of true America? Maybe. That’s for you to decide. Either way, it will give anyone from either side of the aisle a reason to pause and think about what each situation sets up. It’s smart, bold, and audacious–a perfect combination to get people talking. From a filmmaking perspective, I am in sheer awe. Getting access, and assuming that disclaimers have been signed perhaps under false pretenses, to all these groups and high profile people is a work of painstakingly precise art. And while the story is a crazy one, there actually is a narrative arc as it addresses equal rights for women and the misogynistic world in which we live.
Baron Cohen is a master of disguise as he thinks quickly on his feet. He’s always one step ahead (or more), anticipating the next move and orchestrating exactly what he wants to happen next. I wouldn’t want to play chess with him! Equally effective in spontaneous reactions for laughs and insight is Bakalov. She artfully allows her character to physically, emotionally, and intellectually go through a process of metamorphosis as she tests out her wings. The laughter comes from her brainwashed upbringing and the degree to which this pair plays it straight amidst the chaos and utterly ignorant ideology. Together, never losing sight of their goal, they work effectively and efficiently to provide a magnifying glass into our political system and the powers that be. Baron Cohen shares the spotlight willingly in this film to let Bakalov shine. It won’t be the last film we see her in.
I hope there is a subsequent film about the making of this “Subsequent Moviefilm” to allow us to see what happened behind the curtain.
3 1/2 Stars
“Borat: Subsequent Moviefilm” premieres on Amazon Prime 10-23-20.
