Continuing on my mini-reviews of films I saw at the festival that have recently hit the theatres... I thought I'd touch on Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan.
Freakin' hilarious. Super offensive.
It's hard to describe just how offensive this movie is. Offensive to residents of middle Asiatic countries, offensive to Jews, offensive to blacks, offensive to gays, offensive to women, okay, basically offensive to human beings.
But hilarious.
I already blogged about the midnight premiere of this movie at the TIFF... (Donkey carts, a broken projector and Michael Moore on the first night; Dustin Hoffman sitting in the audience the back up night.) But I don't think I touched on how truly funny the film is.
Part of me thinks I should be ashamed of myself for finding this movie so funny. It makes you wonder when joking about something crosses the line. But perhaps the reason Sasha Baron Cohen's satirical comedy works so well is that every topic he tackles is so far far over the line.
Also shocking is how little some of the unsuspecting people he interacts with in the movie react to his blatent racist and sexist comments. Many don't bat an eyelash. Scary comment on American society.
5 comments:
I thought the movie was just alright. I found myself laughing at times, and then wondered if it was a bad thing that I was laughing. Other times, I looked around the theatre when everyone else was laughing and I wasn't. I have to admit that I loved the accent "my name e Borat!" and the terrible grammar. All in all, I would recommend it as a rental...not worth the price of a movie ticket.
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I wouldn't be ashamed of laughing at Borat. I have yet to see it but I really want to. But then again I am a huge fan of Monty Python, and believe me they can be just as racist and sexist. Granted they didn't do it in such a politically correct time; but is Borat really any different than Rick Mercer going doing to the U.S. to dupe the Americans with fake facts questions about Canada?
I watched Team America: World Police a few years ago in the theatre and had a similar reaction: feeling completly guilty because I was laughing at something so completely offensive.
I'd like to see Borat, but I'll probably rent it. :)
Honestly, I won't ever watch Borat.
I have an ethical issue with people intentionally (and for a profit) making others look foolish. Same reason I have issues with movies like Jackass (can't laugh at people really getting hurt).
However, I do think he's a brilliant film maker and marketer.
He is sooooo funny - I was amazed when he took off in the US as Ali G - his humour is so British, then again look at Ricky Gervais and The Office.
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