Remember all the political uproar being caused in the real country of Kazakhstan by Sacha Baron Cohen's upcoming Borat movie? (read about it here) The Kazakhi's are not happy about they way they're being portrayed, and have even gone so far as to drag President Bush into a summit on the subject of Cohen's comedy. Borat's response of course, was that he supported his government's decision to "sue this Jew".
Well, Kazakhstan has decided to abandon all the whining and combat Borat's nation bashing by making their own movie to counteract his negativity. The strange thing is that they're doing it via a period piece called Nomad, the story of Kazakh tribes repelling Mongol invaders. Alright, maybe it'll make their ancestors look heroic, but how does that do anything to counter-punch Borat's portrayal of their country in modern times? Shouldn't the movie be about what a modern, progressive country they are now rather than about how many Mongols they've killed in the past?
The more we hear about this, the more I start to think that maybe Borat's actually right about Kazakhstan. At the very least, their government doesn’t' seem exactly smart.
Whatever it is, Nomad is set to be the most expensive film in the country's history, checking in at a hefty $40 million dollars. AICN has dug up the official site for the film, shooting now in Kazakhstan. Apparently the movie's trailer is available somewhere on it here, though like everyone else I'm having a miserable time finding it.
From the pics available on the official site, the production values look solid, and they've even cast a few known Hollywood actors in it. Jay Hernandez for instance. It may not prove anything about modern Kazakhstan, but that doesn't mean it won't be good.
