âWho is America?â has just hit our TV screens, igniting the
public consciousness with its controversial statements on the current political landscape
of America. However, this isnât new for Sacha Baron
Cohen. This bloke has been pulling this shit since
the late nineties, and through his film and television repertoire has defined brand new
ways of telling stories, making us laugh and revealing the true ugliness of our world. Sacha Baron Cohen is an auteur of a new genre
in comedy and I believe that makes him a genius. But, youâre probably asking yourself how
a man mostly known for gratuitous dick jokes and adopting stereotypical offensive characters
can be considered a comedic genius. Well to begin my argument, I have to start
by talking about new wave Iranian cinema. In the country of Iran, itâs illegal to
make a film which criticises the Iranian government. But, this hasnât stopped Iranian filmmakers
from doing exactly that. In order to achieve this, they have to implement
a great deal of techniques that allow these films to be made without the knowledge of
the government. Often times these films are improvised and
filmed under the guise of a documentary. Theyâll use non-actors playing themselves
and will base the narrative on real life stories. As well as this, they will film entirely on
location with real people interacting with fictional characters. This leads to a mix of a planned scripted
scenes and unplanned semi-documentary sequences. The Iranian film Offside is set during the
world cup qualifying game between Behrain and Iran. In Iran, women are not allowed to go to football
matches and the film explores the themes of patriotism and womenâs rights. What makes this piece special is that a majority
of the film was shot during the real match, with real interactions with fans at the game. Jafar Panani didnât have an ending for the
film and allowed the result of the game to dictate the end of the narrative. Iâve decided to call this type of filmmaking
Pseudo-Realism as these fiction and documentary elements mix together seamlessly, making it
difficult to distinguish real responses to the performed ones. This type of filmmaking is very rare among
western filmmakers but if your familiar with Sacha Baron Cohenâs work, you can probably
already see the parallels. But before I get into that, itâs worth talking
about character comedy in the UK. During the nineties, stand-up comedy was very
standardised, with comedians projecting likeable relatable personalities with typical punchlines. Character comedy allowed audiences to see
the perspectives of flawed and varied characters that would not be typically seen on stage. One of the leading figures in character comedy
at the time was Steve Coogan, who gained notoriety through the character of Alan Partridge. Using this character, he constructed a fake
TV talk show called Knowing Me Knowing You. The show was entirely scripted and was made
of actors who would be badly interviewed by Coogan. This cringe comedy resonated with audiences
and was a huge hit. A few years later, Sacha Baron Cohen, infused
Cooganâs character comedy with rudimentary Pseudo Realism elements from Iranian cinema
to create Da Ali G Show. A talk show hosted by the ignorant uneducated
weed enthusiast Ali G. But unlike Knowing Me Knowing You, everyone
being interviewed was a real person. By taking away scripted responses and performed
awkwardness and instead relying on real human interactions the uncomfortable nature of the
cringe comedy was accelerated. The exaggerated character of Ali G is strengthened
when we see him next to genuine people who sincerely believe him to be real. To call Da Ali G Show a prank show would be
inaccurate, as a prank show revolves around one inevitable bombastic occurrence which
we all know will happen at the victimisation of one or more people. In contrast to that, on Da Ali G Show, Sacha
Baron Cohen will work off the interviewee and develop jokes and punchlines along with
them whilst maintaining the guise of a genuine interview. This allows for a more narrative focused experience. Sacha Baron Cohen is able to spontaneously
improvise dialogue which is just as hilarious and clever as most scripted comedies. Not only this, but his questions and responses
to the answers are purely dictated by his character motivations and given circumstances,
giving us an insight into who Ali-G is and his world outside of the show. However, this isnât the crème de le crème
of Sacha Baron Cohenâs work. Da Ali G Show was just the starting point
for him. From here he was able to develop his skills
and make something more ambitious. Borat is a fully Pseudo Realistic film with
an entire three act structure which is founded on itâs real world setting and a narrative
thatâs defined through genuine human interaction. Borat is a masterwork in production, itâs
truly impressive when diving in to the background of the film to see how little is scripted
or planned out. It goes from hilarious interviews and stunts
to scenes with actors progressing the story and character of Borat. But itâs when the film manages to do both
at the same time that it truly becomes exceptional. Thereâs a scene where three frat boys in
an RV pick up the hitchhiking Borat. They reveal Pamela Andersonâs sex tape to
Borat, who is deeply infatuated with her at the time. This affects Borat as a character and is essential
to the narrative of the film, outside of the films narrative these
are three genuine frat boys who believe theyâre in a documentary and believe Borat is a real
character. They didnât really own the RV or pick him
up hitchhiking, the conversation with Borat is genuine. As well as being profoundly amusing and ambitious
with its production, Borat fantastically explores the theme of social structure and insincerity
in the western world. As everyone Borat meets is trying to teach
him how to behave and change the way he acts around people. Borat in juxtaposition is agonizingly honest
in a world which values fake politeness above all else. Borat genuinely likes and wants to connect
with the people he meets, no matter what race, class or background that person is. The tragic element of this, is that nobody
likes Borat but instead pretends to. This look into the merging of different cultures
and social etiquette couldnât be explored with the same degree of effectiveness nor
have such an impact if it was a conventional narrative film. The implementation of pseudo realism allows
for these ideas to be explored in the most real way possible. Astoundingly Sacha Baron Cohen managed to
top Borat with Bruno. With Borat, there are aspects which are staged
and the line between whatâs fake and whatâs real is hard to distinguish. However, with Bruno every interaction with
the public is real, aside from this. Each sequence has a beginning middle and end,
they all have a strong comedic presence and narratively continue from the previous sequence. Thereâs a scene with Bruno and his agent. The first act is the two getting to know each
other, Bruno wants to be a Hollywood actor and the agent believes he can get him roles. The second act introduces conflict, Bruno
is clearly a bad actor and wonât listen to the agentâs direction. The third act ends the scene and progresses
the narrative further. Sacha Baron Cohen makes this look easy, but
there are so many bland comedies being shat out constantly that fail to do this. Bruno as a character might initially come
across as an offensive caricature, but over time he develops into someone whoâs deeply
layered. Cohen never sacrifices the larger than life aspects which make him stand out
as a comedic character but uses them to create an image of a deeply insecure, fame obsessed
young man. Once again, Sacha Baron Cohen is able to expertly
explore the deeper themes and ideas that come with his character such as celebrity culture,
superficiality and how homosexuality makes people uncomfortable. At this point, Sacha Baron Cohen has mastered
the style of performance needed to convince people that he is playing a genuine person. He gives each character a unique physicality
and vocal rhythm that brings them to life. It doesnât take long for the audience to
become immersed in his characters, forgetting that their characters entirely. Bruno, Borat and Ali G all process qualities
that make them vulnerable, whether thatâs a lack of intelligence, ability to communicate
or self-awareness. These give the people around them an ugliness,
the judgement and superiority they feel over Cohenâs characters reveal their hidden intentions
and beliefs. Although these characters are socially weak,
the stereotypes Cohen is building on become empowered as the people Cohen interacts with
are constantly revealed as being more grotesque then the characters themselves. His characters are never victimised for being
who they are. Typically itâs uncommon for the cinematic
world to frame comedies as important pieces of work, with the people behind them rarely
receiving artistic credit. However, if you look at Bruno and Borat objectively
there are very few films which are able to explore this many ideas in such a unique way. Sacha Baron Cohens work has been able to pave
the way for even more creators to develop this style such as Nathan for you and Nirvana
the band the show, and we even see pseudo realism being introduced to genres other than
comedy like in Under the skin. This style that combines character comedy,
social experiments, pranks and journalism into something wholly special and original
was founded by Sacha Baron Cohen. Itâs great to see Nathan Fielder from Nathan
For You, working with Cohen on his new show âWho Is Americaâ. A show that gives us surreal character comedy
but also genuine political journalism. It highlights the political turmoil of America
in a palpably honest way whilst also never being sincere. Even though his actual scripted movies are
for sure a bit shit and lacking in the same level of complex filmmaking - it doesnât
change his importance. At itâs core genius is defined through innovation,
and when you look at sacha baron cohens filmography innovation is what stands out the most, from
adapting and popularising a genre that at that time wasnât present in western culture
to producing some of the most politically nuanced films masked as crude comedies which
never compromise despite their difficulty to produce, he repeatedly proves to be incomparable
in this creative space, and I am thrilled that he continues to innovate and push the
boundaries of film and television today.
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its a good video but i dont see how political it is, there is some politics in there like with the iran and stuff but i cant see much else?