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Topic: Borat goes for the pirated look

Edwin Sheldon
Film Handler

Posts: 95
From: Mobile, AL, USA
Registered: Sep 2006

posted 03-02-2007 01:28 AM

The Borat DVD packaging is designed to make it look like it was pirated in a former Soviet republic, complete with Cyrillic lettering, blurry text and images, faux anti-piracy logo, washed-out colors, and handwritten title on a faux DVD-R. I think the joke is brilliant. The look is done beautifully (as anyone who has been to a foreign country where piracy is rampant can testify).

Borat DVD looks Pirated

quote:
Fear not, that Borat DVD you bought at Best Buy is not pirated, although appearances are somewhat deceiving.

As it turns out the DVD release of Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan was made to look low-budget. Apparently there is not a word of english on the packaging. The DVD cover also appears to look color-copied (complete with off color tones, slightly blurred company logos, blurry text and moire pattern/lithographic scans. Now that’s funny.

Here's the packaging (image from the article):

And here's a shot of the disc, being held by an unnamed but obviously good-looking former theatre manager:

The logo of the disc says:

DEMOREZ
Is life? No. Demorez.

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Dustin Mitchell
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1865
From: Mondovi, WI, USA
Registered: Mar 2000

posted 03-02-2007 02:01 AM

They did this with one of the 3 billion different 'Army of Darkness' releases too.

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Bill Gabel
Film God

Posts: 3873
From: Technicolor / Postworks NY, USA
Registered: Jan 2002

posted 03-02-2007 11:03 AM

Borat comes in one of those slip cover over the regular DVD case. I got mine last week and it's was a cute idea. The slip cover is in english and the dvd case that's under it is the fake looking one.

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Michael Schaffer
"Where is the
Boardwalk Hotel?"

Posts: 4143
From: Boston, MA
Registered: Apr 2002

posted 03-02-2007 10:07 PM

quote: Edwin Sheldon
The Borat DVD packaging is designed to make it look like it was pirated in a former Soviet republic, complete with Cyrillic lettering

Not really. Apparently those pirates from a former Soviet republic can't spell properly. It says "VOYADT" on the title (V-O-YA-D-T). "Borat" looks like this in capital Cyrillic letters:

БОРАТ

With the picture of the now very well known character on the cover, that would have been much more "realistic" and still very recognizeable. And of course, he had to have his name in clearly legible Roman letters on the front to satisfy his vanity. At least the cover should have a completely "authentic" post-Soviet pirate look, for a really genuine WTF?!? moment when you have the DVD in your hand. But like everything Borat, just a mildly funny idea half-assedly realized.

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Mike Heenan
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1896
From: Scottsdale, AZ, USA
Registered: Mar 2000

posted 03-02-2007 10:37 PM

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Jesse Skeen
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1517
From: Sacramento, CA
Registered: Aug 2000

posted 03-02-2007 11:39 PM

Hmm, so it won't make much difference if I just make a copy of this instead of buy it? (It's coming out on Blew-Ray too.)

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Edwin Sheldon
Film Handler

Posts: 95
From: Mobile, AL, USA
Registered: Sep 2006

posted 03-03-2007 12:33 AM

I don't know how anyone could call Cohen's attempts at humor 'half-assed' considering the lengths he goes to just for a joke. Sure, you can say he's not funny, but lack of effort? [Roll Eyes]

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Stephen Furley
Film God

Posts: 3059
From: Coulsdon, Croydon, England
Registered: May 2002

posted 03-03-2007 02:18 AM

quote: Michael Schaffer
Not really. Apparently those pirates from a former Soviet republic can't spell properly. It says "VOYADT" on the title (V-O-YA-D-T).

Michael, I thought exactly the same thing when I first saw it on a poster. This use of Cyrillic characters that look a bit like Roman ones, but aren't, was quite common a few years ago. I would much rather see the name in either Russian or English, but not in some meaningless non-language, which I always found rather annoying. I think the most stupid example I ever saw was a Tee-shirt which said LONDON. I can't easily get Cyrillic characters on my keyboard, though I do have the fonts installed so at least they display correctly. I actually get quite a lot of junk e-mail in Russian for some reason. Anyway, the shirt used a Cyrillic 'I' for 'N', a Cyrillic 'G' for an 'L' and they couldn't think what to do for a 'D', so they just used the Roman one! Even if they had spelt it corrctly, why on Earth would a London shirt be in Russian?

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Brad Miller
Administrator

Posts: 17775
From: Plano, TX (36.2 miles NW of Rockwall)
Registered: May 99

posted 03-03-2007 02:44 AM

Well shit, now I feel like an ass.

I was at a theater Thursday night wiring up some new video projectors when a manager brought a DVD into the booth and was all excited because he just bought a copy of Borat. I looked at it for all of 5 seconds and started giving him all sorts of shit about how it was a bootleg copy (not knowing it was released on video and they they were intentionally going for the bootleg look) and how he shouldn't do that no matter how badly he wanted to watch or own a copy. He kept insisting that he bought it from Blockbuster video, but I refused to believe him and ended up coming down on him harder and harder until he left the booth quite angry at me.

I guess I need to go back by that theater now and apologize. Stupid marketing!

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Scott Norwood
Film God

Posts: 8146
From: Boston, MA. USA (1774.21 miles northeast of Dallas)
Registered: Jun 99

posted 03-03-2007 10:16 AM

Ha!

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Mike Heenan
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1896
From: Scottsdale, AZ, USA
Registered: Mar 2000

posted 03-03-2007 10:47 AM

Edwin

quote:
I don't know how anyone could call Cohen's attempts at humor 'half-assed' considering the lengths he goes to just for a joke. Sure, you can say he's not funny, but lack of effort? [Roll Eyes]

I am sure Mahir Cagri thinks Borat/Cohen is "hilarious".

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David Stambaugh
Film God

Posts: 4021
From: Eugene, Oregon
Registered: Jan 2002

posted 03-03-2007 11:02 AM

quote:
Despite Mahir's accusations [that Cohen stole the character Borat from Mahir], in Borat's 1997 Guide to Britain (Two years before Mahir's website existed), the Kazakh reporter speaks with broken English, wears his famous grey suit, has his trademark mustache, invites his audience to stay with him in Kazakhstan and proudly announces his catchphrase, "I like sex." The Borat character has been in development since 1994 and has evolved from an Albanian reporter named Kristo.

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Jeremy Jorgenson
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1002
From: Chicago, IL, USA
Registered: Feb 2005

posted 03-03-2007 02:01 PM

quote: Stephen Furley
I would much rather see the name in either Russian or English, but not in some meaningless non-language

Night Watch did the same thing to "spell" Nochnoi Dozor in a way that looked like Latin characters.

quote: Stephen Furley
why on Earth would a London shirt be in Russian

...bunch of Russians living in London now-a-days, right? The two times I've been in London I've seen some of this faux-Cyrillic going on ... back in June there was something on the BBC news about the influx of "Russian Money" into the UK (and they did the Rs and Ns like the Cyrillic "Ya" and "I"), and in December on the bottles of some Russian vodka they had a contest to "win the life of a czar" ... but czar was spelled in Cyrillic as "s-z-d-ya".

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Christopher Seo
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 530
From: Los Angeles, CA
Registered: Jun 99

posted 03-03-2007 06:11 PM

Michael,

Obviously you have not lived in a free, democratic society like ours for long enough to realize what democracy is all about. In America, everyone has a voice; everyone is allowed to speak: and the people have clearly and resoundingly spoken as to their preference for spelling "BORAT" in Cyrillic. You can sit on your high horse in your ivory tower for as long as you like, but we Americans are good, simple folk with no need for your fascist-elitist 'knowledge' and 'facts'.

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Michael Schaffer
"Where is the
Boardwalk Hotel?"

Posts: 4143
From: Boston, MA
Registered: Apr 2002

posted 03-03-2007 10:01 PM

Mr Seo, I tried, but I couldn't figure out if you are being serious or if you are kidding in "Borat" mode. I hope you are. Knowledge of Cyrillic letters does not automatically indicate someone is from the former Eastern Block. I have lived in "free, democratic" societies all my life. One of the priviledges you enjoy in these is unlimited access to information and education. There is nothing "fascist" or "elitist" about being informed about what's going on. Knowledge is freedom.
Unless you were kidding, I fail to understand what gives you the idea you can appoint yourself the spokesman for an entire people to lend more weight to your personal opinion. So much for "freedom of speech". BTW, I happen to know a lot of "good, simple Americans" who are totally into "fascist-elitist knowledge and facts". Waaaaaaaay smarter people than what you come across as here. And not at all "fascist-elitist". I am sure they wouldn't like to see themselves represented by - you.
But I am pretty sure you were just "borating" me.

quote: Jeremy Jorgenson
...bunch of Russians living in London now-a-days, right? The two times I've been in London I've seen some of this faux-Cyrillic going on ... back in June there was something on the BBC news about the influx of "Russian Money" into the UK (and they did the Rs and Ns like the Cyrillic "Ya" and "I"), and in December on the bottles of some Russian vodka they had a contest to "win the life of a czar" ... but czar was spelled in Cyrillic as "s-z-d-ya".

Maybe you shouldn't reveal on the internet that you have knowledge of the weird letters that some people in the former Eastern Block use and that you have actually travelled to some faraway foreign places such as London. That could be dangerous.
Mr Seo will assume you are a spy and report you to Homeland Security, being the upstanding citizen and spokesperson for his people that he is.
BTW, when did you go to Лондон? I lived there for a while many moons ago and would really love to visit again some time, but it's been 15 years and somehow the opportunity never came up.

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