Script Review: #93 Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstanis (2006) | WGA 101 Greatest Scripts of the 21st Century
Uproarious and outrageous in equal measure, Borat is a clever skewering of America that feels even more timely than it did on release.
Logline: Kazakh TV talking head Borat is dispatched to the United States to report on the greatest country in the world. With a documentary crew in tow, Borat becomes more interested in locating and marrying Pamela Anderson.
Written by: Sacha Baron Cohen, Anthony Hines, Peter Baynham, and Dan Mazer
Story by: Sacha Baron Cohen, Anthony Hines, Peter Baynham, and Dan Mazer
Based on: Borat Sagdiyev created by Baron Cohen
Pages: N/A (NO SCRIPT AVAILABLE)
Here’s the thing: If a screenplay for Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstanis floating around somewhere out there, it’s not online, and that’s even if it exists at all. But that didn’t stop it from earning nominations for the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay and for the Writer’s Guild of America Award in the same category for four writers (Sacha Baron Cohen, Anthony Hines, Peter Baynham, and Dan Mazer), which begs the question: How do you review a screenplay for a story that largely relies upon real-time improvised reactions?
The answer: You measure it by its structure, emotional throughline, and whether it follows the conventions of a story.
And guess what? Borat meets the criteria for all three metrics!
What is the screenplay structure of Borat?
Setup – Borat is introduced as a Kazakhstan journalist
Inciting Incident – Borat is sent with his producer, Azamat Bagatov (played in the film by Ken Davitian), to America to make a documentary on its society and culture, where he falls in love with Pamela Anderson after watching an episode of Baywatch
Plot Point 1 – Upon learning the death of his wife, Borat decides to marry Pamela Anderson and makes up a story to convince Azamat to travel to California where Anderson lives
Rising Action – Borat and Azamat travel from New York to California, having many adventures along the way
Midpoint – But Borat loses most of their money after accidentally trashing an antiques store and Azamat is livid to discover Borat’s deception, abandoning him and taking his passport and the remaining money
Plot Point 2 – Borat is despondent to learn that Anderson is not a virgin and, in his despair, he accidentally burns his return ticket home, leaving him stranded
Build Up – After undergoing a religious conversion, Borat decides to continue his quest to marry Anderson and reconciles with Azamat in Los Angeles, who has found out that she will be there at a book signing
Climax – Borat kidnaps Anderson to “marry” her in the “traditional Kazakhi-style” but the attempt is a failure
Finale – Borat returns home, having “imported” many customs from America and bringing home Lunelle, his new wife
Does Borat have any screenwriters if it was mostly improvised?
Borat was written by Sacha Baron Cohen, Anthony Hines, Peter Baynham, and Dan Mazer. The character Borat Sagdiyev was created by Baron Cohen and became popular on Da Ali G Show prior to his feature debut. Hines has collaborated with Baron Cohen on many productions together, including his early days on Da Ali G Show. Baynham has collaborated with many comedy figures such as Armando Iannucci (creator of Veep), Steve Coogan, and Sarah Smith. Mazer is also a frequent collaborator of Baron Cohen’s, having worked with him on Ali G Indahouse and on subsequent productions.
Given its mockumentary nature and its largely improvised reactions from real participants to Baron Cohen’s and Davitian’s absurd antics, its easy to forget that there is a real story engine underneath the shenanigans.
Additionally, Baron Cohen said that 80% of the finished film (and the script by extension) contained scenes that they “set out to accomplish”.
“We’d sit around the writers’ room and imagine the scene -- ‘What do we want it to look like?’” [Baron Cohen] said. “Looking at the script and the finished film, they’re remarkably the same.””
The writers did extensive preparation, writing scenes in order to get the reactions that they wanted- and they even had a shrewd suspicion of how people would respond to their pranks.
Moreover, there is an emotional (if outrageously absurd) core that carries the story: Borat wants to find love by marrying Pamela Anderson. Although he fails in the end, he does find happiness by marrying Luenelle, a prostitute he met on his travels, and he transforms the village by applying what he has learned from USA.
Is Borat still controversial today?
The genius of Borat lies in using farce to expose the hypocrisy, racism, and prejudices of America in all its unflattering glory, especially in its Antisemitism. Baron Cohen, who is Jewish, gleefully gets real-life participants to say things that they feel but might not say aloud. It’s definitely going to make a lot of people upset (and it did!) but pushing comedy to its limits can open up a dialogue and enable uncomfortable conversations because we can laugh at the foibles. Although the people on the receiving may not be too flattered to be the butt of the joke.
What can writers learn from the Borat screenplay?
Although there isn't a script available, here are some takeaways for aspiring comedy writers:
A good comedy, especially a mockumentary, requires the same amount of thought and work as any other script for the performer to use when interacting with real people
Structure is king. Without the structure, Borat would have devolved into a series of funny sketches without coming together
Comedy is a great weapon against prejudice, racism, and hypocrisy. Use it well.
Over a decade after its release, Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstanis remains as relevant as it did when it first opened in theaters. It captures the unflattering side of America while doling out some iconic lines and scenarios, making it one of the few mockumentaries to receive nominations at the Oscars and Writers Guild of America Awards on the strength of its story.
Notes:
https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2007-jan-22-et-borat22-story.html
https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2007/jan/28/borat-a-screenplay-nomination-but-what-screenplay/