testing the limits of satire and hidden camera movies

Rating: 8/10 (26 December 2006)

In the very heated debates this movie has generated one aspect seems to be forgotten very easily. The genre 'Borat' plays with is by no means new, it is the good old practical jokes film, where real persons are filmed on hidden camera exposing their real character when they are not aware about the presence of the camera. It's only that here the victims of the authors of Borat do know that they are on camera, but they believe that 's for a different reason.
The whole difference lies in the purpose. The authors have chosen to present a manifesto about today's America and the way it relates to other cultures, to visitors and to the minorities living in the US. Does it look bad? Does it look worse than it really is - certainly it does, but yet the existence or racial prejudice, religious bigotry or intolerance is not a matter of numbers, and it is fair game in the satiric game. This is what shows like SNL are doing in the US for ages.
The style of the movie is a complete opposite of the Hollywood comedy style. No exact script, improvisation, all is a huge practical joke with a true background. Everybody is being laughed at, including the characters of movie itself, and the acting of Sacha Baron Cohen is perfect, not only by its comic balance, but also or especially taking into account the permanent stress and sometimes real danger he must have worked under during the making of the whole movie. 'Borat' is not a perfect film, but it is the genre of comic movie that only a democracy can afford and a democracy needs.