Bruno
Universal
R1 DVD
Bruno
“...the biggest Austrian superstar since
Hitler”
Bruno
is a shocking, politically incorrect and outrageous assault on the senses. Baron
Cohen's first creation, Ali G and later Borat proved extremely successful and
now he has moved into a new territory, that of homophobia. While many Gay and
Lesbian people have decried that Bruno is “stereotyped” I think this shows a
total lack of understanding of how Cohen works. Cohen creates a persona which
is deliberately exaggerated, extreme and over the top so as to draw out people’s
innate prejudices. At the same time he does not just target homophobia, he
equally makes fun of the vacuity of much of the gay community and the cult of
the fashionista. There are scenes which are so nerve wracking that it is difficult
to watch the screen, I still cannot believe he set up a boxing match and then
made out with an opponent in cage surrounded by shocked and violent rednecks.
Bruno
is a gay Austrian TV fashion journalist who is flamboyant, blond, frivolous, promiscuous
and 19 years old. He is fired from his
TV programme Funkyzeit after an incident at the Milan Fashion awards. He arrived
in a suitably outrageous full body velcro outfit which stuck to a curtain and
threw him crashing onto the catwalk. He is soon unable to get into any of the
trendy clubs and is persona non grata in the fashion community. Crestfallen, Bruno
denounces the fashion world as shallow and decides to enter into a new career;
one he thinks has great depth, becoming a celebrity!
He
arrives in L.A and tries to enter into acting and fails miserably, his attempt
at a talkback program also has little success after a number of problem-some
(but very funny) interviews. Even when he dances and has his urethra sing the
word "Bruno" it is not enough to get his show off the ground. He is
depressed since he even got his anus bleached for the program!
After
a journey to the Middle East where he tries to achieve world peace through a
range of bizarre episodes including as dressing as a gay Orthodox Jew and
trying to mediate between Palestinians and Israelis including a funny incident
where he confuses Hummus with Hamas. He returns to L.A. via Africa having
adopting an African baby.
The
adoption leads to a truly raucous episode on an African American TV Show and a
long exploration of the ex-gay movement. The ex-gay sections are some of the
better of the show. He shows how truly foolish the movement is with extended
interviews with one of their representatives and some truly hysterical attempts
to act straight including going shooting, attending a swingers party and lots
more. His time at a Karate school where the instructor teaches him how to
protect himself against gay men (they are like terrorists, you cannot tell them
from normal people) is both amusing and revealing. Special Karate skills
against a man armed with two dildoes seems very useful.
There
are so many truly awkward, funny and offensive scenes in this film it is hard
to list them all. The climactic scene where he decides to prove how straight he
is in a caged boxing match is a show stopper. He confronts his ex-assistant, fall
in loves and rediscovers his sexuality in front of thousands of screaming
inbreds and yokels.
The
ending is a little condescending with A list celebrities joining him in a song
for peace, but what the hell, it is one heck of a ride and lots of fun.
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This review will appear in Volume 2 No.6 (2009) of the digital and
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