The greatest director in cinema history, according to Sacha Baron Cohen: “The guy is unparalleled”
Sacha Baron Cohen is one of the most interesting figures in modern Hollywood.
As the man behind characters like Ali G, Brüno, and Borat, he has carved a niche that nobody else even comes close to filling. He has taken on some of the biggest figures in politics and come out looking like a hero, but some people have questioned his methods. There have been reports of unpleasant behaviour that have cast a shadow over his reputation, which is a real shame, because the guy is clearly a genius.
Issues with Rebel Wilson to one side, Cohen has also appeared in some of the biggest films of recent years. His performance as Monsieur Thénardier is one of the most enjoyable parts of Tom Hooper’s Les Misérables, which got mixed reviews across the board. As a voice actor, he’s worked for Pixar in Luca and DreamWorks as King Julien in the ‘Madagascar’ franchise. He even earned a ‘Best Supporting Actor’ nomination for Aaron Sorkin’s The Trial of the Chicago 7.
One of Cohen’s biggest career accomplishments is one that often flies under the radar. He played Station Inspector Gustave Dasté in the 2011 fantasy adventure Hugo. Dasté serves as a major antagonist in the life of the titular hero (Asa Butterfield), attempting to bring him into line after the disappearance of his uncle. He only really appears at the beginning and the end of the film, but Cohen didn’t mind one bit. As he explained on Reddit, he was thrilled to work with the movie’s director, the great Martin Scorsese, calling it a “dream come true.”
“He is the maestro, probably the greatest living film director, and possibly the greatest film director of all time,” he elaborated. “I had the privilege of studying how he made movies for six months. He usually sits alone watching the movies, and I asked whether I could sit quietly next to him and learn how to direct. And after a month, he allowed me in the chair next to him, and it was incredible. The guy is unparalleled.”
Hugo, which is based on Brian Selznick’s novel The Invention of Hugo Cabret, was Scorsese’s first attempt at an honest-to-goodness blockbuster. This film was aimed at a family audience, with none of the swearing or violence that defines so much of his work. Critics absolutely adored it. The film was nominated for a whopping 11 Oscars, winning five of them, and was beloved by pretty much everyone who saw it. Unfortunately, not many people saw it.
The movie made just $185million on a budget of $150m. Given the names involved and the amount of cash poured into the project, these numbers simply didn’t add up. Much has been written about why Hugo failed to live up to expectations, from the competition it faced to the fact that it was filmed in 3D, but the bottom line is that it was a flop.
Regardless of how much money it did or didn’t make, Hugo was still a great movie. It also had a massive impact on Cohen, who was clearly very appreciative of the chance of working with an all-time great. You wouldn’t expect Borat and the guy who made Goodfellas to even be in the same room together, but Hollywood makes strange bedfellows.
