Borat Subsequent Moviefilm: Delivery of Prodigious Bribe to American Regime for Make Benefit Once Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan - 2 nominations

 

Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role - Maria Bakalova

Best Adapted Screenplay Sacha Baron Cohen (screenplay by/story by)  Anthony Hines (screenplay by/story by)  Dan Swimer (screenplay by/story by)  Peter Baynham (screenplay by)  Erica Rivinoja (screenplay by)  Dan Mazer (screenplay by)  Jena Friedman (screenplay by)  Lee Kern (screenplay by)  Nina Pedrad (story by)

Oy, caramba, the day has arrived in which I try to describe the Borat sequel, or as the title offers, the subsequent moviefilm.  First, for the few of you who have not seen either Borat film nor any of Sacha Baron Cohen's other shows or movies, you should know that he uses his original characters to play in the world authentically in order to reveal something about the people with whom he is interacting.  So, he will go to a baker and ask for her to write "Jews will not replace us" on a cake, and we see that she is happy to do it with no pushback whatsoever (good thing it wasn't a cake for a gay wedding, eh?). Or he'll sing a song at a rally and get the crowd to gleefully sing along a full throated, "“Obama, what we gonna do? Inject him with the Wuhan flu. Hillary Clinton, what we gonna do? Lock her up like we used to do. Fauci don’t know his head from his ass. He must be smoking grass. I ain’t lying, it ain’t no jokes. Corona is a liberal hoax. Dr. Fauci, what we gonna do? Inject him with the Wuhan flu. WHO, what we gonna do? Chop ’em up like the Saudis do!”

It is no small feat to pull off these films because they are almost entirely improvised, and in this case, given that the people Baron Cohen is exposing are armed to the teeth, these scenes come with no small amount of danger were he or his co-star Maria Bakalova to be exposed.  For him, having already made a film as Borat, this endeavor came at great personal risk.  Bakalova is put in several very awkward situations as she is playing a young teenager being offered to Mike Pence as a bride and literally, only one person in the entire film counsels her that she doesn't have to be human trafficked - and you guessed it, it took a sensible black woman to speak this truth to this "child." (In real life, she is in her 20's but looks younger.)

This film has its sites almost entirely set on the Trump revolution.  The best part of this ruse for me is always that when he is speaking in "Kazakh," Baron Cohen is speaking in fluent and beautifully accented Hebrew.  A special screw you to the anti-Semites who don't realize that Baron Cohen is actually a Jew.

In fact, there is one scene that particularly touches my heart.  "Borat" goes to a synagogue dressed as a "Jew" (in completely stereotypical and offensive gear) and he meets Holocaust survivors.  He expresses anti-Semitic bile and what do they do?  They embrace him, they educate him, they humanize themselves for him.  I am told that Sacha Baron Cohen NEVER reveals his true identity once he has finished filming a scene, but that he made an exception for this one experience.  I hope that's true.

The movie manages to be funny, but it is still utterly terrifying for even the most moderate politically on both sides. This should be a wake up call.  It reminds me of an old Spanish saying, "Dime con quien andas, y te dije quien eres."  Tell me who you walk with, and I'll tell you who you are.  Trumpers "who just liked his policies," this film is specifically for you.

Watch the trailer here.