Borat: Cultural learnings of America for make benefit glorious nation of Kazakhstan Analysis

1. Main Product Genre Analysis
Borat: Cultural Learnings of
America for Make Benefit Glorious
Nation of Kazakhstan
Plot
Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan follows
Kazakh TV reporter ‘Borat Sagdiyev’ (Sacha Baron Cohen), who is sent from his home in
Kazakhstan to the United States by the Ministry of Information. His mission is to produce a
documentary about the American society and culture. Along the way, Borat becomes enthralled by
Pamela Anderson after seeing ‘Baywatch’ and hijacks the trip to find her and take her to be his
wife.
The film follows Borat and his producer ‘Azamat Bagatov’ across America as they make their
documentary about a USA comprised mostly of stereotypes.
Production & Theatrical Release
The film was produced by ‘Four by Two’, ‘Everyman Pictures’ and ‘One America’; in association
with ‘Dune Entertainment’ and ‘Major Studio Partners’. The film was produced on a budget of $18
million. Opening weekend box office revenue in the USA was $26,455,463 from 837 theatres, box
office revenue in the UK was £6,242,344 from 428 cinemas. It beat ‘The Santa Clause 3: The
Escape Clause’ and ‘Flushed Away’ to the top spot in November 2006.
Critical Response
‘Borat’ received critical acclaim and gained a 7.3/10 rating on the user based review site ‘IMDb’, it
also holds a high ‘Metascore’ of 89/100. Borat was nominated for several awards, the film was
nominated for ‘Best Writing, Adapted Screenplay’ at the Academy Awards and in 2008, the film
won a Golden Globe for ‘Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture’. The film was also
nominated for awards by the Los Angeles Film Critics Association, the Writer’s Guild of America
and the San Francisco Film Critics Cirlce. It also won a place in ’Top Ten Films’ from Oklahoma
Film Critics Circle Awards in its release year, 2006.
Production
‘Kazakhstan’ was shot in Romania rather than Kazakhstan, perhaps because the content of the
film was not especially generous towards the Kazakhs. Cohen’s Kazakhstan was actually ‘Glod: a
remote mountain outpost with no sewerage or running water and where locals eke out meagre
livings peddling scrap iron or working patches of land.’ According to the Daily Mail. The residents of
Glod later accused the comedian of exploiting them, after discovering that the film portrayed them
as rapists, abortionists and prostitutes, who engage in casual incest. They claimed the producers
lied to them about the true nature of the project, leading them to believe they were making a
documentary about their hardship, rather than a comedy mocking their way of life.
The opening credits of ‘Borat’ run about five minutes into the film, after an opening sequence
establishes the plot. The title sequence chronicles Borat’s journey, using two dimensional animated
elements showing Borat’s route across countries to get to the US. The titles appear old fashioned,
with connotations of the Soviet Union, they are graded with a dull yellow/sepia tone and added film

2. grain. The titles reflect the film’s portrayal of
Kazakhstan, using dull muddy colours such as
browns, oranges and yellows. Accompanying the
titles is a traditional Eastern European style song
that is associated with the ethnic communities in
places like Kazakhstan.
‘Borat’ is usually wearing a grey suit, this is the most
prominent costume in the film. This shows that he is
apparently a professional, at the same time, the
outdated style of his suit reflects his lack of affinity
with the modern world. A signature moment of the film is Borat’s adoption of the ‘mankini’, this
preposterous costume, that Borat considers appropriate, adds an element of comic surprise as the
bright ‘mankini’ is in contrast to his usual dull exterior. There are multiples uses of clothing
featuring the American flag; reminding the audience of the setting and how overly patriotic the
nation supposedly is. The constant use of the flag also helps give the insults Borat levels at the
people he meets more gravitas.
The film features largely a mix of high-key and natural lighting. This mix reflects the upbeat nature
of the film and reflects the documentary style where there is often no artificial lighting or only single
point lighting. The biggest visual impace created by low-key lighting is when ‘Borat’ finds himself
destitute. His emotional breakdown on the sidewalk is punctuated by this low blue glow of
moonlight that connotes sadness, provoking empathy
from the audience.
An important prop in the film was the use of a live
chicken which serves as a running joke as, for the
entirety of the time that ‘Borat’ is in America, the chicken
is in ‘Borat’s’ hand luggage. The match-on-action shot of
‘Borat’ dropping his bag followed by a clucking sound is
one instance where this prop adds comic value. The
vehicle chosen for the characters to travel around in was an old ice cream truck, adding to the
theme of the characters being on a budget, disorganised and generally scruffy. Borat’s discovery of
‘Baywatch’ and Pamela Anderson’s image become significant props as they then dictate the
storyline.
The standout performance in the film is, of course, Sacha Baron Cohen as Borat who portrays
Kazakhs as a backwards people and manages to do this a comedic and convincing way. Despite
being portrayed as backwards, the Kazakhs are seen to be kinder and innocent, in contrast to this,
the Americans are shown to be pompous and self-absorbed. Much of the dialogue was semi-
improvised, testament to high quality of actors in the film.
The cinematography in ‘Borat’ was typical of the documentary style, the camera was mostly
handheld, helping to create the ‘fly on the wall’ effect. This style puts the audience in the film,
standing on the sidelines, thus increasing viewer immersion. The numerous establishing shots aid
the story progression, as the film is constantly changing location these shots are necessary to
avoid audience confusion. There frequent use of two shots and interviews generally from one
perspective are characteristic of a single camera documentary and add to a feeling of close
conversation, assisted by some close-up reaction shots. The medium/long shots with slow zooms
through adds the effect of spying and intrigue, thus adding jeopardy.
There are some tracking shots when the characters are driving the ice-cream van, followed by
some handheld over-the-shoulder shots inside the van to again increase viewer immersion. The
over the shoulder shots also put the viewer into the position of whoever’s shoulder they are looking

3. over. The film also incorporates a small number of
group shots, connoting teamwork aided by point of
view shots.
Dialogue dominates the non-diegetic soundscape in
this film. The majority of diegetic sound in the film is
the soundtrack which reflects the geographical
location the character is in; in Kazakhstan, eastern
European/Asian sounding music is played, in America,
country & western and rock is played. This a convention of all documentaries as the use of a
diegetic soundtrack that is defined by on-screen features adds entertainment value and helps
guide the viewer. The dominance of non-diegetic sound helps maintain realism and increases
viewer immersion by reducing the amount of perceived post-processing.
Editing techniques used on ‘Borat’ include: time-lapses, shot/reverse shots and montages. The
time-lapses help pass the time and the shot/reverse shots during conversation help keep the
tempo of the film higher. Montages are used infrequently to increase pace and maintain narrative
continuity whilst only implying that continuity. The film uses the visual effect of a moving
superimposed map to help the viewers understand how far we have travelled. Additional VFX
include graphics from news channels such as lower-third banners and news tickers which are
realistic representations of news channels.
The end credits of ‘Borat’ feature a mock national anthem of Kazakhstan, accompanied by videos
of ‘manly’ activities such as ice swimming. The videos are made to look as the opening credits,
aged and dated, with connotations of the Soviet Union. The text credits are designed to look like
typewriter-era labels that were commonly used at the
time of the Cold War and suggest that Kazakhstan has
yet to get computers. The end credits have an industrial
look, which fits the portrayal of Kazakhstan as a country
that doesn’t have advanced industry and has yet to
embrace the 21st
century.