Borat

Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan, or simply Borat, is a 2006 mockumentary black comedy film directed by Larry Charles and starring Sacha Baron Cohen.

Baron Cohen plays the leading role of Borat Sagdiyev, a fictional Kazakh journalist who travels through the United States to make a documentary which features real-life interactions with Americans.

At the behest of the Kazakh Ministry of Information, reporter Borat Sagdiyev leaves Kazakhstan for the "US and A," the "Greatest Country in the World," to make a documentary about American society and culture.

In New York City, Borat sees an episode of Baywatch on TV and immediately falls in love with Pamela Anderson's character, C. J. Parker.

Visiting a rodeo, Borat excites the crowd with jingoistic remarks but then sings a fictional Kazakhstani national anthem to the tune of "The Star-Spangled Banner," receiving a strong negative reaction.

In Atlanta, Borat finds a hotel but is kicked out when he offends the front desk worker by talking and dressing like the African-American youths he met earlier.

Azamat becomes livid at Borat's deception, and the situation escalates into a nude brawl, which spills out into the hallway, a crowded elevator, and then into a packed convention ballroom.

Borat attends a United Pentecostal camp meeting, at which Republican U.S. Representative Chip Pickering and Mississippi Supreme Court Chief Justice James W. Smith Jr. are present.

[15] Phillips left the production after filming of the rodeo scene due to creative differences with Baron Cohen,[16][17] and Larry Charles stepped in to direct.

Sacha Baron Cohen (Borat) commonly speaks Hebrew (due to his mother being Israeli and being fluent in the language) throughout the film, mixing with phrases of Polish.

A scene in which Borat "started pretending he was being arrested" was filmed, but was removed under the threat of legal action by prison officials when they learned that the "documentary" was a satire.

[30] In Israel, a proposed poster depicting Borat in a sling bikini was rejected by the film's advertising firm in favour of one showing him in his usual suit.

This triggered discussions on different national identities (Kazakh, American, Polish, Romanian, Jewish, British) that Baron Cohen had used in creating the Borat character.

The cinema average for the film's opening weekend was an estimated $31,511, topping Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith, yet behind Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest and Spider-Man.

[53] After the film's release, Dharma Arthur, a news producer for ABC affiliate WAPT in Jackson, Mississippi, wrote a letter to Newsweek saying that Borat's appearance on the station had led to her losing her job: "Because of him, my boss lost faith in my abilities and second-guessed everything I did thereafter.

[66] The Salon Arts & Entertainment site quotes the Behars (a Jewish couple at whose guest house Borat and Azamat stay) as calling the film "outstanding", referring to Baron Cohen as "very lovely and very polite" and a "genius".

[68] The New York Post had reported in November 2006 that Pamela Anderson filed for divorce from her husband Kid Rock after he reacted unfavourably to the film during a screening.

[73] In his defence, 20th Century Fox revealed Baron Cohen had donated $5,000 to the town, as well as paying a location fee, and bought computers, school and business supplies for the residents.

[74] Two of the University of South Carolina fraternity brothers who appeared in the film, Justin Seay and Christopher Rotunda, sued the producers, claiming defamation.

[75][76][77][78] Another lawsuit was filed by a South Carolina resident who said he was accosted by Baron Cohen (as Borat) in the bathroom at a restaurant in downtown Columbia, with the actor allegedly making comments regarding the individual's genitals, without signing any legal waiver.

[82] Felix Cedeno, a 31-year-old American, sued 20th Century Fox for $2.25 million, after he was filmed as part of a scene where a live chicken fell out of Borat's suitcase on the subway.

[86] Jeffrey Lemerond, who was shown running and yelling, "Get away" as Borat attempted to hug strangers on a New York street, filed a legal case claiming his image was used in the film illegally, and that he suffered "public ridicule, degradation and humiliation" as a result.

He suggested that interest in the character inside the country faded once Kazakhs grasped that the film was designed to "get an outsider's view of the US and reveal the prejudices of the Americans who Borat interacts with... functioning as a sort of 21st Century Alexis de Tocqueville".

In a letter published by the newspaper Vremya, Asip-uly wrote, "[Borat] has managed to spark an immense interest of the whole world in Kazakhstan—something our authorities could not do during the years of independence.

In 2012, the parody national anthem from the film's soundtrack, which acclaims Kazakhstan for its high-quality potassium exports and having the second-cleanest prostitutes in the region, was mistakenly played at the medal ceremony of Mariya Dmitriyenko at the Emir of Kuwait International Shooting Grand Prix.

[99][100] The European Center for Antiziganism Research, which works against negative attitudes toward Romani people, filed a complaint[101] with German prosecutors on 18 October 2006, based on Borat's references to 'gypsies' in his film.

The album included music from the film, five tracks entitled "Dialoguing excerpt from moviefilm", as well as the controversial anti-Semitic song "In My Country There Is Problem" from Da Ali G Show.

As a play on the copyright infringement common in the former Soviet Union, the packaging of the Region 1 (United States/Canada), 2 (Europe/Japan/South Africa/Middle East), and 4 (Latin America/Oceania) editions mimics a foreign bootleg DVD.

Even the Fox in-cover advertising is written in broken English that appears poorly printed, indicating that there are "More movie discs available from US&A" and "Also legal to own in Kazakhstan".

[116] However, this was contradicted by an interview in which Baron Cohen himself stated that Borat was to be discontinued, as he was now too recognizable to prevent detection as he did in the original film and on Da Ali G Show.

Sacha Baron Cohen in character as Borat, at the Cologne premiere of the film
Actress and model Pamela Anderson was one of the few actors in the film and was privy to its in-jokes.
Sacha Baron Cohen as Borat at the 2006 San Diego Comic-Con, promoting the film