Year: 2008
Duration: 00:58:42
Directed by: Mercedes Stalenhoef
Actors: Borat
Language: Romanian (English Subs)
Country: Romania
Also known as: Carmen Meets Borat, Borat – Ein Dorf lacht nicht, Glod – Le village qui ne rit pas de Borat
Description: A gypsy village in backwater Romania is suddenly confronted with huge dilemmas after they are portrayed as backward people from Kazakhstan in the film Borat.
The documentary is, by and large, portrayed thru the eyes of “Carmen” Carmen is 17 years old, and not yet married, so she is called grandmother. Carmen ives in Glod (which means ”Mud”), a small gypsy village somewhere in the Romanian mountains. The village does not even have running water! (And they are a member of the EU…) Carmen works daily in the shop and evenings in a pub of her father, Ion. But Carmen dreams of a future somewhere else, somewhere she can find her ideal husband and lead a fantastic and rich life. She watches Spanish soap operas on TV and tries to learn Spanish. At the same time she loves her family dearly. She realizes she has to leave behind the people she cares about to make her dreams come true.
Herein lies the dilemma. In their own way the recidents of the village are stupid and naïve. No two ways about it. So you really don’t know what to make of this documentary. I know I don’t know if I should laugh or cry. Or both? Perhaps first you laugh thinking “this is a joke”, then, upon realizing it is not, you cry. In a manner this documentary is much more powerful than Borat. In Borat the people are “imaginary.” Or so you would (like to) think. In this document they are for real, and what is worse, they are pretty much how Borat portrayed them in the film. And for real. Did I say that already? Real… Goddamnit! They are like that for real! This is as good a documentary as they get. You just can’t be unmoved by this documentary, one way or another.
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