Borat Subsequent Moviefilm (2020)
October 23, 2020 8:03 PM - Subscribe

14 years after making a film about his journey across the USA, Borat risks life and limb when he returns to America with his young daughter, and reveals more about the American culture, the COVID-19 pandemic, and the political elections.

Streaming in the US on Amazon Prime.
posted by DirtyOldTown (16 comments total) 6 users marked this as a favorite
 
Aw man, I really needed that as a palate colonic after that debate last night. The costume designer deserves an Oscar...his Steven Miller costume was so eerily realistic. (heeheehee >:)
posted by sexyrobot at 9:21 PM on October 23, 2020


How in the hell did SBC convince those two dudes to take him (and the camera crew) into their houses?
posted by RakDaddy at 11:42 PM on October 23, 2020 [2 favorites]


Seemingly many Americans want to be famous, as decades of game shows and reality teevee have taught us. SBC apparently spent five days with them, never breaking character; we see six minutes of this time (plus perhaps ninety seconds more of airtime with them at the rally). There’s a lot of stuff we do not see.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 12:24 AM on October 24, 2020


Jeanise was awesome. It sort of makes sense that professional babysitter would be equipped to deal with SBC-style antics.
posted by paper chromatographologist at 3:08 AM on October 24, 2020 [9 favorites]


I loved the description of Pence as a man who is so dangerous to women that he's unable to be left alone with them.

Giuliani - just ... ugh!

I enjoyed this but my favourite SBC moment of all time is the Kingman Mosque Town Hall scene from Who Is America.
posted by essexjan at 3:47 AM on October 24, 2020 [1 favorite]


I haven't seen it yet but this use of "subsequent" has been making me smile for days.


I loved the description of Pence as a man who is so dangerous to women that he's unable to be left alone with them.


I mean, that's what "can't be trusted to control his urges" amounts to.
posted by trig at 4:17 AM on October 24, 2020 [4 favorites]


Comrade Doll, the Mrs. Colombo to my MeFi presence* has confirmed that all of the Kazakhstan scenes are once again shot in Romania. All of the "Kazakhs" are Romanians speaking Romanian.

*(I talk about her often enough you could be forgiven for feeling like you know her, even if she's never around such that you might also wonder if I made her up.)

Presumably, Borat himself is still speaking the same Hebrew/Yiddish/gibberish hybrid as last time.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 5:39 AM on October 24, 2020


I noticed that in the Giuliani scene, Sacha Baron Cohen's costume was the best in the whole film, including blue contact lenses, which really changed his face! And the most realistic of all the wigs. They really made him look like a different person, I guess because he needed to pass the closest scrutiny to be able to get that close with all of Giuliani's team around. By the next scene in the alleyway, he'd removed the blue lenses and was back to brown eyes for the sincere scene with Tutar.

Also noticed that it sounded like he spoke the most pure Hebrew in the sincere scenes with Tutar. In scenes around strangers he spoke "faux Kazakh" with a more gibberish / borrowed-word pastiche. I'm assuming Maria Bakalova was speaking a mix of Bulgarian and gibberish. I love the idea of these two very skilled clowns having such a sincere scene while speaking two totally different languages.

Most of all, I enjoyed that the ethical heroes of both Borat movies are Black women who are at once nurturing AND able to act assertively in alignment with their own values. Watching Jeanise Jones gently and firmly educate Tutar - while also managing to speak quite respectfully despite clearly being horrified - was like a masterclass in how to be an ally.
posted by nouvelle-personne at 9:26 AM on October 24, 2020 [16 favorites]


I wonder if he’s using Yiddish as a nod to Blazing Saddles. I only recently learned that, apparently, most people don’t realize Mel Brooks is speaking Yiddish in the wagon train scene, which tbh makes it so much funnier for those who do know.
posted by nonasuch at 9:32 AM on October 24, 2020 [1 favorite]


I am sure a lot of people are going to give this a pass because they agree with the political message is and was Borat is a jaw-droppingly racist caricature.
posted by StarkRoads at 9:39 AM on October 24, 2020 [2 favorites]


I love the idea of these two very skilled clowns having such a sincere scene while speaking two totally different languages.

Much as in the Previous Moviefilm, where Cohen delivers his lines mostly in Hebrew, as I recall, while Ken Davitian’s Azamat is speaking Armenian in the other half of the conversations. It’s a nice comment on Americans’ perceived traditional ineptitude with other languages.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 9:44 AM on October 24, 2020 [3 favorites]


Well, I laughed! I'm desperate for a behind-the-scenes on this thing, though. If they were at CPAC, the film was planned pre-COVID; SBC did a lot of (successful) rewriting to make their footage into a coherent and relevant movie.
posted by grandiloquiet at 3:52 PM on October 24, 2020 [5 favorites]


Well, I hated... no - more than that, absolutely despised the original...

This, on-the-other-hand was poignant - a "kinder, gentler" Borat - with a pretty good message, wrapped in alot of jaw-droppingly cutting humour.
posted by rozcakj at 1:37 PM on October 26, 2020 [2 favorites]


I hadn't watched the previous Borat but watched this based on several people I trust saying it was hilarious and wanting to kill some time on Saturday and ... it was really funny. I lost it cry-laughing at the first faxing scene.

There are some stories about Jeanise Jones (the babysitter hired to care for Tutar) and how she didn't know it was a setup and was paid $3600 to be in a "documentary". She is unemployed during the pandemic and her pastor has set up a Go Fund Me for her.
posted by urbanlenny at 4:24 PM on October 26, 2020 [4 favorites]


was paid $3600

SBC can and should kick her some more money, in recognition of her making this a bearable movie.
posted by paper chromatographologist at 5:58 PM on October 26, 2020 [5 favorites]


SBC just donated $100K in Jeanise Jones's name to her community after her own fundraiser hit over $130k.
The money, to be distributed by the Ebenezer Baptist Church at Jones' request, has been earmarked for shelter, food and any other needs the community has.
posted by MiraK at 6:54 PM on October 29, 2020 [6 favorites]


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