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“May George Bush drink the blood of every man, woman and child in Iraq!”
For those long familiar with the comedic talents of British humorist Sacha Baron Cohen, it was both baffling and exhilarating to see Borat garner such wide commercial success. After all, even though the film features plenty of scatological and boorish sight-gags, Cohen’s creation of an anti-Semitic, misogynistic Kazakh TV reporter who exploits the unsophisticated xenophobic nature of American culture is actually rather erudite and highbrow. Or to put it another way… it takes true genius to make a film this stupid.
Borat was not only the funniest film of 2006, it ranks among the best comedies ever made. It achieves this stature by forcing a paradigm shift in filmmaking, blending scripted story elements with documentary-style real-world segments. In fact, the film is so meta, you will be wondering just how much of the film is real and how much is staged. And it is within this hilarious amalgamation that Borat accedes to brilliance. |
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By blurring the lines of reality, Cohen and director Larry Charles have created a movie-going experience that performs a sneak attack on the audience. You may think you’re laughing at a silly over-the-top impersonation of a Central Asian crank, but what you are really laughing at is yourself. Because the character of Borat may be fictitious, however, the reactions to his antics from the duped Americans in the film are frighteningly real. The fact that Cohen is able to convince people to take his amplified caricature so seriously is where the film offers real and poignant social commentary… But if cultural exegesis is not your thing, then… well, the film does have naked man-wrestling too.
Grade: A |
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Although extolled damn near universally by critics as a masterpiece, the Spanish film Pan’s Labyrinth and its ad campaign misled some viewers who were expecting a full-fledged fantasy film. The audience soon discovered the fantasy segments to actually make up only about 20 percent of the movie’s runtime and was left to find a main plotline set against the backdrop of a post-Spanish Civil War Madrid in 1944, as Franco’s fascists have taken control of the country. |
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In this tale, thirteen-year-old Ofelia and her pregnant mother move to a military outpost deep within the forest to live with her new stepfather, the brutal Captain Vidal (played brilliantly by Sergi Lopez). Concurrently, the war-weary vestiges of the Republican resistance lurk ensconced in the woods, edging nearer the Captain’s outpost and preparing to advance. |
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Meanwhile, as Ofelia wanders the woods bordering the outpost, she comes across the titular labyrinth which spirals into a dark magical underworld guarded by the faun-like Pan who presents to her a series of tasks she must complete. This quest of Lovecraftian proportions forces the audience to ponder just how much of it is real and how much of it is Ofelia’s attempt to seek refuge in fantastical escapism.
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And although Ofelia’s nightmarish journey is powerfully compelling, the real strength of this film comes from the main plotline involving the Republican guerillas’ attempt to infiltrate the outpost using a mole they have on the inside. The story plunges into as many captivating twists and turns as the spiraling labyrinth.
Writer/director Guillermo del Toro has crafted a darkly exquisite piece of cinematic storytelling that explores the murky chasms of imagination and ruminates painfully upon the human condition. The images in this film will stay with you long after the credits. And even had the fantasy segments been entirely excised, this still would have been the best movie of the year.
Grade: A |
