Brüno

Tonight I was lucky enough to see (thanks to beaut.ie/movies.ie) an advance screening of Sacha Baron Cohen’s outing as Brüno, the gay Austrian TV presenter. 2006′s Borat was a huge hit and had people choking on their popcorn all over the world. Of course, with the film came the inevitable backlash, from the disgruntled people of Kazakhstan to the jerks that were unfortunate enough to have their misogynistic and racist views captured on film.

I enjoyed the film and would recommend it. It doesn’t quite have the same rawness and unpredictable nature that Borat did, and it certainly feels more tightly edited. Nevertheless, there are plenty of really hilarious moments; a particular one springs to mind regarding slow motion and plenty of camera angles.

There has been a lot of brouhaha over whether this film is homophobic and offensive to the gay community. Yes the stereotypes are somewhat outrageous and definitely pushed to the limit, but Cohen is a highly intelligent man and it’s clear who his satirical barbs are aimed at. He knows exactly what he is doing. As in Borat, he uses his comic ability and acting talent to fully immerse himself into the character of Bruno, his German flawless and his coiffure immaculate.

Traipsing once again around America he shows us how deeply entrenched homophobia is in the society, from the obligatory rednecks foaming at the mouth and the deranged Christian gay-converters to the macho gun-nuts who almost have a panic attack at the mere thought of another man’s body. Every facet of this hypocritical society is revealed. It is ridiculous how some people are still so uncomfortable with an openly gay man being in their presence. Once again America comes off as a very ugly, dumb place. (You have to keep reminding yourself that you are seeing the worst of the bunch and thankfully, not all people from the country are like this.)

This is the season of Gay Pride and the anniversary of the Stonewall riots that started the emancipation of LGBT individuals everywhere, so it is certainly a topical issue. Only when people are confronted with the extremes of a sexuality that they are highly prejudiced against, is it possible to see the simmering hatred that lies beneath, and Cohen excels at luring people into revealing their prejudices.

The film’s quite short at around 83 minutes long, but packs in many different scenarios, some more shocking than others, almost surreal in their sheer hilarity. Although I have to say I was a bit disappointed to see über tosspots Bono and Chris Martin in there at the end, piggybacking on Cohen’s cool factor. It will be fascinating to see what the man does next. He would definitely be an excellent conventional actor if he ever thinks of heading down that direction.