#borat subsequent moviefilm
Like father, like daughter
As far as shock value comedy goes, the arrival of Borat in 2006 is hard to beat. Sacha Baron Cohen’s larger-than-life, jew-fearing persona had his unwitting guests stammering and uncomfortable, while his sayings – ‘wa wa wee wa’ - can still be heard in college dorms across the world. There may have been doubts about whether this out-of-the-blue sequel from Amazon Studios could retain the same element of surprise, but Borat Subsequent Moviefilm skimps on none of the outrageous comedy of the original, adapting to a changed and crazy world - new presidents, new viruses - in hilarious and yes, shocking, ways.
After his documentary-making exploits in the first film lead to national humiliation for Kazakhstan, Borat finds himself imprisoned for his crimes against his home country. Yet, when new president Donald Trump steps in, and Kazakhstan is presented with an opportunity to win favour with the United States, Borat is sent on a mission for his own survival - present his own daughter Tutar (Maria Bakalova) as a gift to ‘Vice Pussy Grabber’ Mike Pence, or be ‘execute’.
Borat needed a good excuse to return for a sequel, and luckily 2020 has been a year just waiting to be satirised. Like with the quest to marry Pamela Anderson, the plot here doesn’t make much sense, but Cohen and director Jason Woliner use it as a tool with which to expose alarming social attitudes in the US. As Borat ventures through the south – cleverly using disguises to elude discovery from fans of the movie - there are genuinely jaw dropping scenes with a pastor who takes his support of pro-life to extreme lengths, and a store owner who does his best to help Borat get the right materials needed to ‘gas gypsies’.
As before, much of the humour here comes from the awkward reactions of Borat’s targets, though you would hope that Cohen and regular collaborator Anthony Hines would’ve taken more risks with their material – a final act about the ‘coronavirus hoax’ ends up feeling slightly toothless. That being said, the film has a huge trump card in the form of Bakalova as Borat’s socially repressed daughter. Stepping in as Cohen’s new foil (the gruesome fate of Borat’s previous assistant Azamat is revealed early on), Bakalova is just as committed to the cause, willingly plunging herself into absurd stunts – a period-stained dance father-daughter dance, and an encounter with a certain former mayor – that somehow top the audacity of those in the first film. As Borat’s relationship with his daughter forces him to confront his outdated views on female rights – maybe they don’t belong in cages? – the resulting ending is both silly and weirdly sweet, with the most genius cameo of the year yet.
A Borat sequel purely for fans of the original, this delivers more of the same, boosted by a father-daughter subplot that provides some of the most uncomfortably funny moments yet. For the most part, it’s very nice!
★★★★
It’s time for Hollywood to end its dreadful representation of women from Eastern Europe
The Bulgarian actress was amongst tens of other up and coming actresses from countries in the region who were flown out to London as part of the secretive casting process for the film about which they had little to no information.
The young women were put in cages and asked to drink out of a dog bowl. Speaking to the New York Times, Bakalova admitted that the casting process made her worry that she might have become the victim of human trafficking.
