Borat Subsequent Moviefilm (2020)
By The Gorilla
This review contains spoilers
Hi, it’s me, the Gorilla.
Recently, the Panda has been giving me looks of disapproval at the extra roundness I gained during the course of this lockdown. I told her it’s just due to my winter fur and muscles I developed while she wasn’t looking, but she grabbed a handful of “muscles” and told me I got to lose some of that fur.
I roared back in her face and stormed out, walking right into the main room (where the hell can I go when locked at home!). I had just the time to look at my fat reflection in the dark TV screen when the Panda marched in, resolute and militant, carrying a scale. She placed the scale at my black feet, sucked her breath in, and picked me up, positioning me without much ceremony on the scale.
The scale exploded, destroying the left wing of our apartment.
“You’re fat,” she said. I had nothing to reply. She pushed me on the couch and turned on Borat Subsequent Moviefilm: Delivery of Prodigious Bribe to American Regime for Make Benefit Once Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan (but his friends call him Borat Subsequent Moviefilm or just Borat 2) (2020). As a matter of fact, the uncomfortable scenes of the mockumentary bring you to such levels of embarrassment that the resulting muscle spasms are perfect for muscle-growth and burning calories—I guarantee it. And wouldn’t you know, the movie started and within minutes I was flexing my biceps harder than Arnold Schwarzenegger on the stage of Mister Olympia. The Panda sat next to me huffing and puffing as her whole body cringed.
Borat 2 opens with our homonymous hero (Sacha Baron Cohen—not the figure skater) being held in captivity in one of his motherland’s gulags. His previous movie, Borat (2006), has brought incredible shame to the country of Kazakhstan and he now has only one option if he wants to redeem himself and be free: he must go back to Yankee-land for orders of Premier Nursultan Nazarbayev and to ingratiate himself with President Donald Trump with a gift he can’t refuse—Johnny the Monkey (an actual monkey). Since Borat had defecated outside the Trump Tower back in 2006, it is quickly decided that he will present the monkey to Vice President Mike Pence instead. Once he reaches America, however, he discovers Johnny the Monkey killed in his crate and his fifteen-year-old daughter, Tutar (Maria Bakalova), next to the cadaver. The only solution? Gift pestiferous Tutar to Pence and so avoid death back in the motherland.
Given the format it is presented in, that of the mockumentary, judging Borat 2 by any technical standard is pointless. Every shot is designed to look as spontaneous as possible, oftentimes being under the visual constraints of the interview setup, or those given by the physical situation Baron Cohen finds himself in (for example when he’s running away from people and the camera chases after him). The sound works and the environment most scenes are shot in dictate the sound and production design. So the film potential worth lies entirely in the insight it can give into America’s darkest recesses, the comedic moments it can provide, and as a test of endurance to see how long you can bear to watch people make fools of themselves.
Baron Cohen and Bakalova work greatly together and by themselves, remaining totally committed in the part and showing incredible quick-thinking humor, regardless of what their butt of the jokes throws at them. In this day and age of censorship and self-censorship in the arts and media for fear of offending the herd, it’s refreshing to see someone who is so unafraid to anger the weak-minded, and so driven by a desire for authenticity. And while the whole storyline with the daughter feels sweet but way too predictable for a film like this one, the movie, especially in its first part, made me roar with laughter and wince with embarrassment. Still, when compared to his previous effort in the same role, Borat 2 is less shocking and impartial. The focus of the film is no longer revealing American idiocracy, but rather it’s a specific group of people abiding by a specific political ideology. And the resulting revelations are much less unbelievable. Don’t get me wrong, the movie does show an incredible collection of poster boys for safe-sex, with all the morons it brings on screen, but that doesn’t come off as shocking as it used to. It’s fun, for sure, but not eye-opening.
I guess that’s what happens when we have spent the last fourteen years feeding on Jersey Shore (total masterpiece, by the way), Love Island, and all the recent developments in word politics. Let’s just say this, after this crazy 2020 (that, Oh my God, is not over yet), being surprised by ignorance and stupidity would be impressive in and of itself.
Even the infamous scene with Rudy Giuliani falling for Tutar’s titillation doesn’t feel entirely convincing. We would love for it to be completely damning or exonerating, but it isn’t, it still leaves room for interpretation. I also can’t shake off the feeling that Baron Cohen has a clear agenda and target in mind. Where in Borat (2006) the enemy was ignorance and bigotry, here the goal feels slightly more manipulative and political. The scene does, however, show how easily Giuliani put himself in a compromising position (and this guy is Trump’s attorney), and worked wonders for my abs, though my jaw was clenched so hard that I broke a tooth.
Ultimately, the biggest surprise in Borat 2 was the homely kindness of the two strangers who accepted Borat in their house for five days. Despite them being the greatest conspiracy theorists, racists, and bigoted gentlemen on this side of the Mississippi, they still opened their home to this queer foreigner they knew nothing about and who just asked them for a place to stay. It was a heart-warming moment in a quite cynical film, and a reminder that we can still find humanity in the most unexpected places.
And when at the ball, the rich old fart who, in front of his two daughters, said to Borat with a smile that Tutar was worth $500. That was also surprising.
In conclusion, Borat Subsequent MovieFilm proves a breakthrough performance for Maria Bakalova and is a testament to Sacha Baron Cohen’s great commitment to unabashed creativity and fearlessness, though the objectivity and awe-factor aren’t what they used to be.
When I reached for my alcoholic banana the Panda slapped it off my hand, not very nice!
The Gorilla watches movies, The Gorilla thinks, The Gorilla does reviews. He is very opinionated, which sometimes drives his girlfriend, The Panda, crazy. He also likes alcoholic bananas, back scratches, and long naps in the sun.
