Staff Articles

Borat Subsequent Film

Rodrigo Arias

It has been 14 years since Sacha Baron Cohen, SBC, has graced the world withthe release of the original Borat film. In it, a supposed Kazakh journalist comes to the United States to create a documentary--or rather a mockumentary. If you have seen the film then you would know that this mockumentary rather than poking fun at Kazakhstan, exposes how open Americans were to racist, anti-semitic messages. Since then no one expected SBC to suddenly release another Borat film, especially now in the middle of the Coronavirus pandemic and not too long before the American presidential election.

The basic premise of the film is that Borat Sagdiyev and his daughter, Tutar who played by Bulgarian actress Maria Bakalova, are sent to the United States to give a gift to one of President Trump’s closest allies. This gift would then let Kazakhstan’s premier, Nursultan Nazarbayev--who is played by someone who looks nothing like him-- to gain entry into the “world strongmen club”. Of course, while in America, Borat and his daughter do many shenanigans that make the unknowing people around them incredibly uncomfortable and make the audience cringe and laugh.

The most repugnant part of the film is when Borat’s daughter is able to get an interview with former New York City mayor, Rudy Giuliuani. Unbeknownst to the former mayor, the hotel room to which he is being taken to has hidden cameras everywhere. After the supposed interview, Rudy Giuliani is taken to the bedroom where Borat’s daughter helps him to undress. The strangest moment was when Rudy Giuliani sticks his hands down his pants and begins moving it around in what appears to be him fondling himself. America’s favorite mayor, after the release of the film, denies that characterization of the event despite the footage.

Be warned, however, like its predecessor, Borat Subsequent Movie Film contains a lot of vulgarity, nudity, inappropriate behavior, etc. While on the surface the film is a funny, gross mockumentary, it of course has another layer of meaning. Like his previous film, SBC once again brings a mirror to America. By pretending to be an clueless foreign journalist, the people he interacts with tend to not have their guard up and say what they really believe in no matter how racist, sexist, or politically incorrect it is. The film ends with a satisfying conclusion as well as with a message about the importance of going out to vote.

Aleksei Balabanov’s Brother (1997): Post-Soviet Crisis of Identity

Undra Tsend

Brother (1997) is a post-Soviet neo-noir film directed by Aleksei Balabanov under the production of STV Film Company. Showing the grungy, crime-laden realities of a city once prosperous, the film takes a stab at post-Soviet Russia in a state of identity crisis. Although the film was shot utilizing an inexpensive budget, it rose to popularity after release and the company was able to rake in hefty profits. The neo-noir genre in Brother highlights the aesthetics of crisis after a transition from a Soviet nation to some other form of statehood that evolved from a glorifying past of historical pride to one of common anxiety about what it means to be Russian at the end of the 20th century using a new cinematic language. The genre’s crime gangster aspect in an urban environment set in St. Petersburg, a rather historical city, illustrates the loss of historical, paternal grandeur and illuminates a rather pessimistic view of the world as the characters interact with each other. The main character, Danila, is neither abhorrent nor empty as he simply exists in a plane of existence that is allotted to him in the cultural economy of the post-Soviet era, one that lacks clear identity and tugs at the importance of brotherhood during a time of crisis.

In regards to editing, the use of parallelism in the film illustrates the dangers of using either brotherhood or national identity as a basis for moral judgment. Fatherlessness and the inadequacy of the father figure that Danila’s older brother Viktor provides hint at the idea that blood relations do not fix the need for a true sense of belonging. The lighting is quite grungy in an almost orange-like vignette and the camera pans on an eye-level only, preventing the viewers from spectating anywhere above what the characters see. They exist surrounded by material blocks devoid of aerial views, indicating the loss of “wings” that could have removed one from a crime-laden environment. Without these “wings”, the main character is stuck in a place that not only disturbs his internal peace but also his conscience rather unknowingly. Moreover, under a strong orange vignette lighting, the camera at times follows the main protagonist and does not steer away from an eye-level shot, never panning to the sky or showing a shot from a birds-eye view. The main character is grounded in the sense that he cannot venture far away and outside this suffocating environment. The sound used in this film is derived mostly from songs produced by the band Nautilius Pompilius, a rock band that released a new wave of Russian rock music that adorned nostalgic philosophical lyrics. The lyrics also mention the “wings” and it’s played at the beginning of the film which later instills the understanding that Danila’s longing to leave the violent material world but is unable to due to fraternal ties supported by unconditional loyalty to a state that no longer exists. There’s moral and stylistic ambiguity in the sense that there is no right or wrong but various experiences that show the consequences of dangerous fraternal loyalty that cloak itself under the guise of heroic nationalism. The role of the invocations of the Russian people and family ties play an important role in Danila’s involvement in crime in the first place as Viktor’s appeal for brotherly love and patriotism at the macro level come to light as a convenient fiction. Besides the tension between the characters, there is still a lingering sense of aimless barrenness amidst a world of chaos.

All in all, the low budget neo-noir film Brother goes into depth about the state of crisis in a grungy crime-laden post-Soviet environment and the exploration of niche subjects that were generated from that specific environment.