NEW YORK 鈥� Screenplay writing, usually a fairly solitary, uneventful process, is more of a full-contact sport for a movie like 鈥淏orat Subsequent Moviefilm.鈥�
Work for the nine Oscar-nominated writers of the 鈥淏orat鈥� sequel began conventionally enough. Brainstorming, a draft, a table read. But as soon as shooting starts, there鈥檚 no telling what can happen, how people will react to Sacha Baron Cohen鈥檚 Kazakh alter-ego, or what strange circumstances might befall their protagonist.
As Borat hurtles through the world, a team of writers trails along, endlessly writing and rewriting for every evolving scenario. Take, for example, when Baron Cohen ended up in a five-day lockdown with two QAnon believers. Anthony Hines, a writer and producer on the film, would reach Baron Cohen by stealthily taking a ladder to Baron Cohen鈥檚 second-floor bedroom, like a Cyrano de Bergerac of comedy.
鈥淚t was quite sort of dark and dangerous,鈥� says Hines, a longtime collaborator of Baron Cohen's. 鈥淚t was literally a matter of climbing up that ladder and poking your head into Borat鈥檚 bedroom window at 2 a.m. and giving him feedback and giving him some ideas.鈥�
Like most things about 鈥淏orat Subsequent Moviefilm,鈥� the film鈥檚 Academy Awards nomination for adapted screenplay is unusual. Seldom are the scripts to broad comedies nominated, but both 鈥淏orat鈥� films have been. Its nine writers are the most ever nominated in the category. (When it won at the Writer Guild Awards, Baron Cohen theorized it was because 60% of the guild worked on the movie.) And the film鈥檚 full title 鈥� 鈥淏orat Subsequent Moviefilm: Delivery of Prodigious Bribe to American Regime for Make Benefit Once Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan鈥� 鈥� is the longest ever for an Oscar nominee.
鈥淲hen they read out the nomination and the title of the film, I think it will essentially feel like a filibuster,鈥� Dan Mazer said on a recent Zoom with Hines and four other of the film鈥檚 writers, Peter Baynham, Dan Swimer, Jena Friedman and Nina Pedrad.
鈥淚f we win, it鈥檚 a massive boost the trophy manufacturing industry,鈥� added Hines.
You can read a transcribed script of 鈥淏orat Subsequent Moviefilm,鈥� and it does make for a unique reading experience. Descriptions include 鈥淓XT. MEL GIBSON SQUARE - DAY.鈥� But the movie鈥檚 final form gives you only a small window into the gonzo art of writing for Borat.
There are plenty of scenes scripted straightforwardly, but screenwriting for Borat also means finding ways to manipulate the real world, guessing how people will respond, and shoehorning those guerilla encounters into a coherent narrative. That adds up to, says Hines, 鈥渁n extraordinary amount of writing 鈥� far, far more than a conventional movie.鈥�
鈥淭here鈥檚 nine movies,鈥� says Swimer.
A lot of what they do never comes near the screen, nor is it even designed to. To help lure Rudy Giuliani for the film鈥檚 infamous hotel room scene, they created a fake documentary about the coronavirus called 鈥淜eeping America Alive: How Trump Defeated COVID.鈥� After watching the tape, Giuliani鈥檚 office OK鈥檈d the interview under the impression it was for that film.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 a writing process all of its own. It鈥檚 like scripts within scripts,鈥� says Hines. 鈥淲e shot part of that documentary with other people who were not going to be in the movie like a sizzle reel with a voiceover going something like: 鈥榃here Trump saw an invisible enemy, the Democrats saw an invisible friend.鈥欌��
Sometimes 鈥� especially during the run-up to the 2020 election 鈥� real-life farce could seem like their handwork, too. Giuliani鈥檚 Four Seasons Landscaping press conference, for instance.
鈥淭hat was us as well,鈥� says Baynham. 鈥淲e wrote the Landscaping thing.鈥�
Most of the writers are Borat veterans, many of them going back to 鈥淒a Ali G Show.鈥� But on 鈥淪ubsequent Moviefilm,鈥� Baron Cohen (a credited writer, too, and a regular presence in the writing room) brought some fresh voices to Borat, including Friedman, Pedrad and Erica Rivinoja. Their input was key in mapping the journey of Borat's daughter Tutar through American-style misogyny and Borat鈥檚 slow, strange transition to what might be called feminism.
But because 鈥淏orat Subsequent Moviefilm鈥� was made in secret, just joining the project was disorienting.
鈥淚 didn鈥檛 really even know what the movie was,鈥� says Pedrad (鈥淪aturday Night Live鈥�). 鈥淚 go, locked in a room, read the script. A couple pages in, I鈥檓 like: 鈥楾his sounds a lot like ... no. Is it?鈥欌��
In case of leak, scripts were written in code. Borat鈥檚 name never appeared in the pages. 鈥淥ne minute, he was Sergio from Guatemala, then he was Apu from Armenia,鈥� says Hines. By the end, the names were all jumbled up. Johnny the Monkey was identified as Jeremy the Horse.
Friedman, a 鈥淒aily Show鈥� veteran, was responsible for the scene set in a 鈥減regnancy crisis
鈥淚 can鈥檛 believe we got that scene in a major motion picture,鈥� says Friedman. 鈥淚 remember there was a discussion like, 鈥楧o you think we鈥檒l really be able to get a pastor be OK with incest?鈥� Just knowing what I know from those places, I was like, 鈥楢bsolutely, yes.鈥欌��
The writers will play out some scenes with actors beforehand to get a sense of likely responses to Borat. But they also encounter plenty of people who say things that couldn鈥檛 possibly be prepared for. If Borat holds up a mirror to American society, the reflection is often unpredictable and disquieting.
That includes the plastic surgeon, Dr. Charles Wallace, visited by Borat and Tutar who frankly tells them that he would he would want to sleep with Tutar if Borat wasn't there. The moment still astounds Mazer.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a really interesting dilemma we go through because the more extreme it is, the less people believe that it鈥檚 real,鈥� he says. 鈥淵ou just go: How do people like that actually exist? And they do, and we find them, and it鈥檚 more common than you would imagine.鈥�
Their plans are frequently upended. The pandemic, itself, caused a massive rewrite. Sometimes people get wind that it鈥檚 Baron Cohen in disguise. For the scene with Tutar at a Republican women鈥檚 event, Borat was removed at the last moment after producers overheard something. In the first 鈥淏orat鈥� film, a Civil War reenactment scene was scrubbed when one of the reenactors鈥� sons spotted Baron Cohen.
But remarkably frequently, the writers say, Baron Cohen finds a way to make happen the ridiculous scenarios they dream up 鈥� scenes they think can鈥檛 possibly be pulled off. Sometimes they鈥檙e watching along by a live video link. Sometimes they鈥檙e hidden among a crowd, as Hines was while an overalls-clad Cohen performed as 鈥淐ountry Steve鈥� at a pro-gun rally. Or they might be anxiously waiting for word in the writers鈥� room.
鈥淲e鈥檒l be sitting there nervously going, 鈥楬ow many of our jokes made it in? How did the scene go?鈥� The amount of times we鈥檒l get a text back saying, 鈥榃e did it. We got X to happen. We got Y to happen,鈥欌�� says Mazer, shaking his head. 鈥淚t鈥檚 like a bank job. It鈥檚 like a celebration. You just go, 鈥橧 can鈥檛 believe that happened. How did he get to it? I never in my wildest dreams imagined this crazy thing that we wrote ended up manifesting.'"
___
Follow AP Film Writer Jake Coyle on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/jakecoyleAP
Jake Coyle, The Associated Press
