Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan
Short description
Borat Sagdiyev is a Kazakh television journalist sent to the United States to make a documentary about the country. Travelling with his producer Azamat, he sets out to record American life and customs for audiences back home. His behaviour and assumptions clash with the people he meets, and the encounters expose prejudices and contradictions in the society he is documenting. After seeing an episode of Baywatch, he becomes fixated on Pamela Anderson and redirects his trip towards Los Angeles, which gives the journey its main conflict.
The film was directed by Larry Charles, the second of the seven features he has directed, following Masked and Anonymous and preceding Religulous, Brüno, The Dictator, Army of One and Dicks: The Musical. Sacha Baron Cohen stars as Borat and wrote the screenplay with Anthony Hines and Peter Baynham, and produced it with Jay Roach. Ken Davitian plays Azamat, with Luenell appearing as herself.
Released in 2006, the comedy cost about 18 million US dollars and returned roughly 262 million worldwide, a large multiple of its budget. On IMDb it holds 7.4 from about 474,000 votes, while on TMDB it stands at 6.8 from a much smaller base of around 6,200. The critics' rating of 8.3 from 219 reviews is noticeably higher than either audience figure.
What's left behind the scenes
- According to Sacha Baron Cohen, Borat's costume was never cleaned or washed.
- Todd Phillips was originally supposed to direct the film, but he had to leave the project due to creative differences with Sacha Baron Cohen.
- Big fans of Borat, Johnny Depp, George Clooney, and Steve Martin asked Sacha Baron Cohen to give them a cameo, but he refused in order not to ruin the realism of the film.
- Practically all the minor characters are not actors, but ordinary people who were unaware of what was happening. Only three students who gave Borat a ride in a trailer sued him. And that's despite the fact that an editor from the TV channel where Borat caused trouble lost her job because of him.
- One song by Macedonian singer of Romani origin Esma Redžepova was included on the film's soundtrack.
- The scenes set in Kazakhstan were filmed in the Romanian village of Glod in Dâmbovița County. Several characters supposedly speaking Kazakh actually speak Romanian. The woman playing Borat’s wife was actually born in Kazakhstan and emigrated to Romania.
- Most of the film's scenes were shot without a script, and all roles except for Borat himself, Azamat, Pamela Anderson, the Black prostitute, and Borat’s family members were played by non-professional actors.
- The first non-pornographic film banned from distribution in Russia.
- The prototype for Borat Sagdiyev was a Russian doctor. And Borat himself (along with the rapper Ali G and the Austrian homosexual Bruno) was created in 2000 – all these characters became full-fledged participants in Sacha Baron Cohen's show on MTV.
- Borat's mustache and hair are real. Sacha Baron Cohen grew them specifically for filming the movie.
- The film almost became a record holder in the nomination “Longest Title of a Feature Film.” The full title of the film can be translated into Russian as: “Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan.”
- The authorities of Kazakhstan promised to do everything possible to prevent the appearance of physical copies of the objectionable comedy in the country. Shortly after, surprisingly, they thanked Sacha Baron Cohen for “raising international interest in Kazakhstan.”
- Sacha Baron Cohen does not speak Kazakh in the film, but rather heavily distorted Hebrew. Actor Ken Davitian, playing the role of Azamat, speaks Armenian. The film also features lines in various Slavic languages (for example, “Yak she mash!”, which Borat uses as a greeting; in reality, the phrase is a Polish question “Jak się masz?”, meaning “How are you?”). Borat and Azamat also use a lot of Armenian, Kazakh, and Russian profanity.
Auditions in India
Casting calls in USA
Castingi w Polsce
Кастинги в Україні
