BORAT SPEAKS HEBREW

Borat speaks Hebrew (JTA)
Comedian Sacha Baron Cohen substitutes Hebrew for Kazakh in his satirical movie “Borat.” The anti-Semitic Kazakh television personality, one of several satirical creations by Cohen, a British Jew, for his “Ali G” show, appears in his own movie next month. The opening sequence of the film was released Monday over YouTube.

In it, Borat takes leave of his ancestral village, telling one resident, according to the subtitle, “Doltan, I’ll get you a new arm in America.” In fact, Cohen says in Hebrew, “I’ll buy you some kind of a new arm.” Borat also parries with his wife in Hebrew.

The film covers Borat’s travels through the United States, revealing his own bigotries, sexism and backwardness as well as those of his subjects. Appalled by the success of the character, Kazakhstan’s government has launched a counter-campaign extolling the Central Asian nation’s virtues.