Movie Reviews: Borat & The Libertine

Borat: Thumbs Up

Yes, it was childish and uneccessarily gross.  Yes, it did falsly portray Khazakstan as a land of poor idiots and anti-Semites (it was filmed in Romania).  But after the setup, it turned into a brilliant critique of American society.

The best satire is funny and biting at the same time.  Borat achieves this.  The opening few minutes make you think, "boy Khazaks are a bunch of racist, ignorant assholes."  Then Borat arrives in America, and you're thinking, "now he'll see some REAL culture."  But as he travels through the South, America's Heartland, you start thinking, "boy, Americans are a bunch of racist, ignorant assholes."  At one point, Borat tells an American, "Back in my country, if we find a homosexual, we put them in jail and then, you know, we end it."  The American replies, "That's what we're trying to do here too.

Not only does it make us think twice about ourselves, but it re-frames our sence of authority as the world hegemon.  Are we an enlightened nation, bringing enlightenment to the places we touch?  Or are we just as degenerate, hypocritical, and prejudiced as everyone else?  And if we don't have the moral high ground, why are we fighting?  These are the questions that this film raises.

The down side of this film is that, apparently, a lot of the people interviewed by "Borat" (a.k.a. Sacha Cohen) weren't in on the joke.  Apparently someone even got fired for it, and a lot of people are embarrased that they got "tricked" into saying racist remarks.  I don't feel too sorry for most of them.  I don't care how drunk I get, I don't make racist or chauvanist comments.  It's at moments like that, when you're inebriated and your guard is down, that your true colors come out.  Racism is unpopular today, thank God, and THAT'S why these people are embarrased.  Not because they didn't mean it, but because they don't want their friends to know that this is how they really think.

But that was part of the whole point of the film: taking the veil away from American society.  Like the Southern minister who leaves the dinner party as soon as the black woman shows up, we're kidding ourselves if we believe that racism and prejudice is not still a part of America.  These people may have been duped, but they have some serious soul searching to do.  As do we all.

And what about the news television producer who was fired simply because Borat made an ass of himself on live television?  First of all, we don't know the whole facts of that; this might have simply been the final straw for this lady.  Second of all, his trouble-making went on and on.  A smart producer would have gotten him out of the studio as soon as it became obvious that he was causing problems.  Another message of the film: maybe not all of us are as professional as we'd like to think we are.

'Borat' victims upset at being duped - Yahoo! News

The Libertine: Thumbs Down

Pros: Excellent script, very good acting from Johnny Depp and a trio of leading women who were both gorgeous and very talented.

Con: The directing.

Turns out this is a true story, about the Second Earl of Rochester.  He was a man who had everything, including a brilliant wit, and essentially decided to use his powers for drinking and lechery.  Even when the king gave him a chance to become a major player at court, he threw it away in favor of insults, sex, and wine.  And this is how this individual really lived, in 17th century England.  The movie was historically authentic and the characters spoke like 17th Century Englanders, not 21st Century Americans.  I really appreciated that.

But the bad directing ruined it.  Every shot was tight.  Maybe the director thought that this would symbolize the constriction of English society.  Even though it was never discussed, Rochester clearly felt constricted.  His entire life was a battle against this, a battle he eventually lost (of course).  But the consequence of making every scene a close-up is that you lose the sense of space.  You lose the sense that there's a larger world outside of Rochester's own, a world that is open and waiting for him, if he would only accept it.  And it ruins the magic of the theater, Rochester's greatest passion.  "The theater," he says, "is my drug."  But all you see of the theater is a bunch of dim lighting and tight pans.  If we're seeing the world through the eyes of Rochester, the theater should be something wonderful and magnificent, and this should be visually obvious.  It isn't.

The poor direction and editing effectively ruined what could have been a really neat movie.  Too bad.  But I'll tell you this: I'm going to look up those actresses and see what else they've been in.  They're all fantastic.  And Johnny Depp, of course, is Johnny Depp.