‘Borat Subsequent Moviefilm‘ or for short ‘Borat 2‘ directed by Jason Woliner is the most surprising production I’ve seen so far in this strange year, a proof that interesting films can appear despite or even due to the pandemic. The film is a sequel to the first ‘Borat‘ made 14 years ago, resuming the American adventures of the pseudo-Kazakh character invented and played by Sacha Baron Cohen in the America of 2020. One of the things that happened during this time was was the series ‘Who Is America‘ in which Cohen practiced and perfected scenarios in which the imaginary stereotypes of the characters meet real people, some stereotypically banal, others at the political or religious extremes of American society. The premises are farcical until the confrontations of characters and ideas make them seem painfully real. Satire is all the sharper as the characters Cohen / Borat encounters become more involved in their own roles, and those are the instances when comic effects are most successful and satire is devastating. However, the surprise effect is missing, not only that the formula is the same as in the original ‘Borat‘, but also some of the comic effects (for example using ‘exotic’ languages) are repeated, and in almost any category the comparison with the original is unfavorable.
‘Borat 2‘ has about ten screenwriters (including Cohen), and that feels like it, because the film looks like a succession of scenes that can be viewed as separate comic clips. The film takes the risk of upsetting just about everyone and manages to do so in full, though probably unevenly, because the political orientation of the authors is clear. Almost anyone who wants or can’t avoid feeling offended will find reasons to be so in this film, but especially adepts of political correctness and those who do not believe that political, social, character satire can afford saying anything or almost anything in a movie. The novelty introduced in the pretext of the film is the character of Borat’s daughter played by the Bulgarian actress Maria Bakalova. The 15-year-old girl destined to be delivered as a ‘gift’ for bribing politicians offers the opportunity to expand satire in the #Me Too space, but the topic gets a Borat treatment here as well. The melodramatic line of action about the relationship between father and daughter, although a bit conventional, did not hurt I believe, on the contrary, it added a necessary emotional counterpoint in the succession of comic scenes. Sacha Baron Cohen also adopts a series of disguises justified by the fact that the character Borat has an already famous physiognomy created in the original film. Both Cohen and Bakalova immerse themselves with talent and courage in environments that risk becoming hostile at any time, especially if and when they understand that they have become the subject of a filmed satirical prank. They also do not avoid confrontations with the top of American politicians, and the results on the screen are interesting, debatable, but of a comic that cannot be denied.
The disguises are not perfect, I had the impression that the mascara is almost always thick, the costumes are beyond credibility, and that these imperfections are intentional, as if to give an additional but unused chance to those involved to understand the context. Jokes of all kinds and to all tastes abound, including in the use of languages. ‘Kazakhstan’ is filmed on location in Romania and its inhabitants speak Romanian. Borat speaks Hebrew and his daughter answers in Bulgarian. The comic effect is inevitable, amplified if you understand these languages. Being a Romanian and Hebrew speaker, I was able to enjoy a large part of the ‘foreign’ dialogues. But not all gags work just as well, and some of them are complete misses. The unsuspecting heroes provide moments of comedy but also of unexpected emotion (like in the synagogue scene). At its best moments, the film manages to create a aggressive and substantial comedy. At others, however, the humor is tendentious, repetitive or simply flat. Sacha Baron Cohen did not invent the ‘mockumentary’ but with the first ‘Borat‘ he achieved one of his greatest successes, perhaps the greatest so far in the history of the genre. ‘Borat 2‘ is a sequel that tries to repeat this success but is not very successful.