borat

I recently saw the film Borat again, this film was released in 2006, and the first time i saw it i thought it would have a been a good laugh as I like the character Ali G, also one of the main actor Sacha Baron Cohen’s caricatures. Well, to be honest I though the film a bit silly, some bits were funny, but the main thread of the film is that the tow main characters, Borat and his aide, along with Pamela Anderson, are the only actual actors in the film and the other s are all filmed documentary style, believing that Borat really is from Kazakhstan, and a journalist making a documentary about the great U S and A! so though it is funny I think it is a bit unfair to laugh at people like that and is kind of like tricking people. The film caused so much controversy, cited as being anti-Semitic, homophobic and sexist to name a few … but the fact that these subjects are raised in the film, does not mean that the film is those things surely, especially as it is a comedy and really I think it is making fun of those who are sexist, homophobic etc The films whole title is Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan which is clearly a dig at poor use of English, and it would be hard to see this film as anything other than satire or comedy. There are so many things wrong with the film, the languages used are not in fact Kazak, but Armenian, Hebrew and some Russian, and there are other (presumably deliberate) inaccuracies. So what do I think of the film, well, not great to be honest, funny, but in an uncomfortable way as you are laughing at someone for their stupidity, and they aren’t in on the joke, so it makes you feel like you shouldn’t laugh, but you do, so you feel a bit bad about it. It is shot documentary style, with moving cameras and you feel like you are watching a documentary but then it is funny. It also seemed a bit old hat actually after just 7 years, and I need to think about why that is, and why some films,, like the Agnes Varda avant garde films, stand the test of time so much better. If I do eventually make something to show, I would like to think it could last a bit better. Maybe it is the humour that is dated.