Brüno is a 2009 mockumentary comedy film directed by Larry Charles and starring Sacha Baron Cohen, who produced, co-wrote, and played the gay Austrian fashion journalist Brüno. It is the third film based on one of Cohen s characters from Da Ali G Show, following Ali G Indahouse and Borat. The film was released on July 10, 2009 to mostly positive reviews from critics.

Title

An alternative title for the film is Brüno: Delicious Journeys Through America for the Purpose of Making Heterosexual Males Visibly Uncomfortable in the Presence of a Gay Foreigner in a Mesh T-Shirt. It was initially a mock title proposed by Hollywood news and gossip blog Defamer and mistakenly reported as genuine by a number of sources of film information, including MovieTome, where it was still being used in the search results as late as 2011, the Daily Star, The Irish Times, The Boston Globe, and (although no longer) the Internet Movie Database.

Plot

Gay Austrian fashion reporter Brüno Gehard is fired from his own television show, Funkyzeit mit Brüno after disrupting a Milan Fashion Week catwalk, and his lover Diesel leaves him for another man. Accompanied by his assistant s assistant, Lutz Schulz, he travels to the United States to become a famous Hollywood celebrity.

Brüno unsuccessfully attempts an acting career as an extra on Medium. He then interviews Paula Abdul, until he scares her off when he serves her sushi on the body of a nude man. He then produces a celebrity interview pilot, showing him dancing erotically, criticizing Jamie Lynn Spears fetus with reality TV star Brittny Gastineau, unsuccessfully attempting to interview actor Harrison Ford, and closing with a close-up of his penis being swung around by pelvic gyrations. A focus group reviewing the pilot hate it. Brüno then attempts and fails to make a sex tape by seducing Ron Paul, claiming to have mistaken him for drag queen RuPaul.

Brüno consults a spiritualist to contact the deceased Rob Pilatus of Milli Vanilli (a former lover) for advice, miming various sex acts on the invisible Pilatus. He consults charity consultants to select a world problem to maximize his fame, choosing the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. He flies to Jerusalem to interview former Mossad agent Yossi Alpher and Palestinian politician Ghassan Khatib and confuses hummus and Hamas. He sings his own Dove of Peace while cajoling the two to caress each other s hands. He also meets with Ayman Abu Aita, a terrorist group leader of Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades in a Palestinian refugee camp in Lebanon, where he hopes to be kidnapped. Brüno insults him and he is ordered to leave.

Brüno interviews parents of child models, asking if their toddlers would undergo liposuction and perform dangerous stunts. On a talk show hosted by Richard Bey, he shows the African American audience a baby he named O.J., whom he acquired in Africa by trading him for a U2 Product Red iPod. He shows photographs of the boy in dangerous and provocative situations and the audience is appalled. Social services take O.J. from Brüno, driving him to depression. He goes to a diner to gorge on high-carb junk food. Lutz carries him back to a hotel room. After a night of sex, they awake to find themselves trapped in a bondage mechanism, unable to find the key. They call a hotel engineer for help and are asked to leave. After accosting a group of anti-gay protesters from the Westboro Baptist Church while still in bondage gear and boarding a bus, Brüno and Lutz remove their equipment in Huntsville, Alabama. After being arrested, Lutz says he loves Brüno, but Brüno does not reciprocate, stating he was influenced by carb goggles . Lutz leaves Brüno.

After realizing the biggest names in Hollywood are heterosexual, Brüno consults two gay converters to help him become heterosexual. He attempts other masculine activities, such as learning karate, joining the National Guard, going hunting, and attending a swingers party, during which he is whipped by a dominatrix.

Eight months later, Brüno, under the alias Straight Dave , hosts a cage-fight match in Arkansas, Straight Dave s Man Slammin Maxout . Lutz appears at the event and insults Brüno, leading to them fighting in the cage. During the confrontation, they begin to kiss and strip in front of shocked spectators who throw objects into the cage. The moment gets international press, and the now-famous Brüno attempts to marry Lutz, getting O.J. back in exchange for a MacBook Pro. At Abbey Road Studios Brüno records a charity song, Dove of Peace , featuring Bono, Elton John, Chris Martin, Snoop Dogg, Sting, and Slash.

Cast

• Sacha Baron Cohen as Brüno Gehard
• Gustaf Hammarsten as Lutz Garry Schulz
• Clifford Bañagale as Diesel Ramirez
• Chibundu & Chigozie Orukwowu as O.J. Gehard
• Josh Meyers as Kookus Mansfield
• Gary Williams as the spiritualist
• Michelle McLaren as the dominatrix

Cameos as themselves

• Paula Abdul
• Ayman Abu Aita
• Yossi Alpher
• Richard Bey
• Bono
• Harrison Ford
• Brittny Gastineau
• Elton John
• Ghassan Khatib
• Chris Martin
• Paul McCartney
• Ron Paul
• Miguel Sandoval
• Avraham Sela
• Slash
• Snoop Dogg
• Sting

Production

Baron Cohen was cognizant of his increased fame following the success of Borat, which led him to retire the character for a number of years, and realized it would be much harder to conduct his interviews as Brüno without being recognized. As a solution, Baron Cohen wore a wig that lowered the size of his forehead (easily recognizable on the Borat character), which to his amazement succeeded in hiding his identity for most of his interviews. Nevertheless, the flimsy nature of the disguise made Baron Cohen fearful that he would be recognized, to the point that he chose to live inside his trailer for almost the entirety of the six-month shoot.

During Baron Cohen s Middle East interview of Alpher and Khatib, he repeatedly conflated Hamas and hummus and feigned belief that the conflict was between Jews and Hindus. The two interviewees (who had received a fee to appear on camera), convinced by the elaborate production, were confused by the questions but generally went along, even when asked by Baron Cohen to hold hands.

On June 6, 2008, a riot ensued at a stunt orchestrated by Baron Cohen and the producers of the film as they staged a Blue Collar Brawlin in Fort Smith, Arkansas. Patrons were lured to an event billed as cage fighting, held at a convention center, by print and Craigslist advertisements, promoting hot girls , $1 beer, and $5 admission. Approximately 1,500 people attended the event and were greeted by signs that informed them that they were being filmed. No mobile phones, video, or cameras were allowed inside. The acts taking place became homosexual in nature, with Brüno inviting a man up to fight him, who turned out to be Lutz. Celine Dion s My Heart Will Go On started to play as both men began kissing and stripping. The audience reacted violently and threw chairs and beer at the performers. The performers were Brüno (Baron Cohen) under the ironic gimmick, Straight Dave , and Gustaf Hammarsten portraying his opponent, Lutz.

In July 2008, Tyler, Texas television station KETK-TV was approached by a documentary filmmaker who was allowed to bring a crew to interview a few members of the staff, including news director Neal Barton and sports director Danny Elzner. They signed releases and expected to be talking about small-town news in the United States. Instead, the interviews conducted by the flamboyant Brüno character drifted towards the topic of homosexuality.

On November 2, 2008, Baron Cohen, dressed as Brüno, and his film crew were spotted at a Los Angeles rally that was in support of California s Proposition 8.

On November 7, 2008, while appearing as an extra in a scene for the NBC TV series Medium, Baron Cohen interrupted a scene in character and was removed from the set. Production on the episode was shut down temporarily, though actor Miguel Sandoval, who was told that a cousin of NBC executive Ben Silverman would appear as an extra in the jury, has stated that he recognized Baron Cohen and played along, commenting, It s one thing for Borat to go into an antique store in Georgia or Alabama. For Brüno to go on a TV show, he s among insiders. Most people knew who he was.

The production team also deceived presidential candidate Ron Paul into being interviewed by Brüno by posing as an Austrian television reporter looking to question the congressman about economic issues. As soon as Brüno drops his trousers, the congressman storms out of the room. A spokeswoman for Paul commented on the incident. She said Baron Cohen s people were very deceptive in their tactics. At the time, he thought they were legitimate but later confessed to some concern. I m familiar with his work, so you can imagine how I feel about it, he said. Jesse Benton, senior vice-president of Ron Paul s Campaign for Liberty organization and former campaign spokesman for Paul, said Paul was not familiar with Baron Cohen s programme, Da Ali G Show. If it s not on hard-core financial news, he doesn t follow it, Benton said. But, he added, It sounds like it s going to be pretty funny.

The scene filmed during a taping of The Richard Bey Show, however, was staged, and Bey was in on the joke, as his daytime show went off the air in 1996. The audience, however, was not made aware of the truth of the production. Similarly unaware of the true nature of the production was Paula Abdul, who, during her interview scene in the film, sat atop a Mexican landscaper and was presented with food adorned upon a man lying down on a cart wearing nothing but a sock over his penis. Abdul told a radio interviewer that she was scarred by the incident.

Deleted scenes

The trailers for the film shown in the U.S. included a scene in which Brüno shops for clothing at Sears, telling the sales clerk You might find this very hard to believe, but I m gay to which the clerk responds Okay , while maintaining an awkward posture.

Michael Jackson incident

Following the sudden death of Michael Jackson on June 25, 2009, a scene from Brüno was hastily removed from the US theatrical version of the film before its Hollywood premiere later that evening. The scene involved Brüno tricking La Toya Jackson into an interview in which he asked her to take a seat on hunched over Mexican workers substituting for chairs and invited her to eat sushi from the torso of an overweight and hairy naked man. In a ploy to get Michael s phone number, Brüno asked La Toya to let him look at her mobile phone, which she did.

The latter part of this scene was later confirmed to be removed from the film permanently (about the phone number, but the Mexicans as furniture scene was included until the food is served on a naked man, at a SVT Swedish television broadcast of the film, February 2014), but is included in the DVD and Blu-ray release s special features. Coincidentally, the Brüno premiere s red carpet also temporarily covered Michael Jackson s star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame; fans formed a vigil at the star for the radio commentator also named Michael Jackson instead.

Release

Though the film was originally slated for a May 15, 2009 release, the release was later moved to July 10, 2009. The film received an early release in Australia, Switzerland, Belgium, the Netherlands, New Zealand, and Iceland on July 8 and in Germany, Greece, Ireland, Serbia, Slovenia, Israel, and Bosnia and Herzegovina on July 9, 2009. The film was then released internationally on July 10.

Promotion

In a staged publicity stunt at the 2009 MTV Movie Awards, Baron Cohen appeared as Brüno to present the award for Best Male Performer. Dressed as a winged angel wearing a jockstrap and white go-go boots, he was suspended on wires and flew over the audience towards the stage, but fell and landed on rapper Eminem, with his head in Eminem s lap and his buttocks in front of Eminem s face. Eminem shouted, Are you fucking serious? and, Get this motherfucker off me! Eminem and his entourage then walked out of the show and did not return. It was later revealed that Eminem and Baron Cohen had staged the incident, rehearsing it beforehand to make sure it went off without a hitch, leaving Eminem laughing to himself in his hotel room about how the crowd was easily fooled.

Home media

The film was released on DVD and Blu-ray on November 17, 2009. Special features include deleted, alternative, and extended scenes and an audio commentary by Baron Cohen and Larry Charles.

Reception

Box office

Brüno opened with $30,619,130, ranking number one in its first weekend. At the end of its run on August 20, it had grossed $60,054,530 in the United States and Canada and $78,751,301 overseas for a worldwide total of $138,805,831. For its opening weekend, it narrowly beat Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs (in its second week of release) for the highest gross, in the lowest attended second-weekend-in-July in 18 years.

Critical response

On Rotten Tomatoes the film has an approval rating of 67% based on 224 reviews, and an average rating of 6.18/10. The website s critical consensus reads: Crude and offensive, but with ample cultural insights and gut-busting laughs, Bruno is another outlandish and entertaining mockumentary from Sacha Baron Cohen. Metacritic gives Brüno an average score of 54 out of 100 based on 34 critics, indicating mixed or average reviews . Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film a grade C on a scale of A+ to F.

Nick Curtis of the Evening Standard wrote that Brüno is funnier, more offensive, and more outrageous than Borat . The Telegraph gave the film four stars out of four, saying impossible not to laugh and also praising Brüno s controversial style of comedy. The BBC also gave the film a positive review, saying Brüno pushes the boundaries further than Borat ever did. However, they also said that It s not going to be everyone s cup of tea due to the offensive nature of the film. Roger Ebert awarded the film three and a half out of four stars, and said Here is a film that is 82 minutes long and doesn t contain 30 boring seconds , although he noted that the film s R rating was very, very hard .

Andy Lowe from Total Film gave it a lower review, giving it three stars out of five and calling it as phony and frustrating as it is funny… The clothes may be new and more fabulous, but the emperor seriously needs to go shopping. Others felt it was not as good, feeling it would insult and offend the gay community: A. O. Scott of The New York Times wrote that the film shows that lampooning homophobia has become an acceptable, almost unavoidable form of homophobic humor, and called the film a lazy piece of work that panders more than it provokes. At the Movies critic Ben Mankiewicz criticized the film for being too demeaning and playing on homosexual stereotypes. He later named Brüno the worst film at the halfway point of 2009.

Motion Picture Association of America

On October 11, 2010, it was revealed that the Motion Picture Association of America s Classification and Rating Administration would specifically note in the future which films contained male nudity . A spokesman said this was in direct response to parental concerns about the content of Brüno.

Reception in Austria

While Borat was criticised in Kazakhstan, Austrians were generally positive about Brüno. Others regarded the humour as pretty average and inoffensive to Austria . Within the Austrian press, reactions were generally mild and positive, although the film was also labelled repetitive . Christian Fuchs, from the Austrian radio station FM4, wrote that hidden beneath the hard-as-nails satirist Cohen, lies a humanist who enlightens. However, the film also met some opposition in Austria, due to its portrayal of homosexuality, and basing the portrayal of Austria on motifs such as Josef Fritzl and Adolf Hitler, even going as far as calling Mel Gibson der Führer as he pointed at the actor/director s photo in the film.

Ban in Ukraine

In Ukraine, the film was scheduled to premiere on July 23, but on July 14, the Minister of Culture and Tourism of Ukraine decided to ban the distribution and demonstration of the film in the country. The reason for the prohibition was that nine out of fourteen members of a commission of experts said the film contained obscene language, homosexual scenes, and other scenes of offensive nature never shown in Ukraine. The Vinnytsia Human Rights Group immediately expressed its anger with the ban. An unofficial premiere of the film in Kyiv on July 22, 2009 was disrupted by a smoke bomb.

Lawsuit and death threats

On 2 December 2009, it was reported that Ayman Abu Aita, who stated he was falsely portrayed as a terrorist in the film, was filing a lawsuit of $110 million in libel damages for defamation. Ayman Abu Aita was identified in the film as a member of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades. Abu Aita says that he was never a member of Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades and was tricked into appearing in the film. In an interview with Time, Abu Aita stated, It is true that I was jailed in 2003…I was active in resisting the occupation, in non-violent ways.

Baron Cohen claims he set up a meeting with Aita in the West Bank with the help of a CIA agent-UK station, through this contact, some of the audience at the cage fight were also sourced-they were from prisons, but from UK prisons, auditioned whilst on parole and effectively working as actors, under a special, UK, USA program. According to the lawsuit, however, the interview with Abu Aita took place at a hotel chosen by Baron Cohen and located in a part of the West Bank that was under Israeli military control. The filing of the lawsuit was confirmed at a press conference on 2 December 2009. Included in the lawsuit are David Letterman, NBC Universal, CBS, Worldwide Pants, Gannett Company, and Larry Charles. In November 2010, the lawsuit was dismissed in Washington D.C. Court so as to be refiled in the Supreme Court of New York. In July 2012, the lawsuit was reported to have been settled under undisclosed terms.

Baron Cohen has said he had to increase his security detail following death threats from the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades after the release of the film. The group was angered by the interview with Abu Aita in which he was linked with the group, an armed wing of the Fatah movement. In a statement to the media, Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades denied that Abu Aita was a member and threatened that they reserve the right to respond in the way we find suitable against this man (Baron Cohen) and that they feel the segment was a dirty use of our brother Ayman .

Year	2009
ReleaseDate	2009-07-10
RuntimeMins	81
RuntimeStr	1h 21min
Plot	Flamboyant and gay Austrian Brüno looks for new fame in America.
Awards	Awards, 2 wins & 5 nominations
Directors	Larry Charles
Writers	Sacha Baron Cohen, Anthony Hines, Dan Mazer
Stars	Sacha Baron Cohen, Gustaf Hammarsten, Clifford Bañagale
Produced by	Jason Alper,Sacha Baron Cohen,Peter Baynham,Jonah Hill,Anthony Hines,Monica Levinson,Dan Mazer,Jon Poll,Jay Roach,Jeff Schaffer,Todd Schulman,Dale Stern
Music by	Erran Baron Cohen
Cinematography by	Anthony Hardwick,Wolfgang Held
Film Editing by	Jonathan Corn,Scott M. Davids,Eric Kissack,James Thomas
Casting By	Allison Jones
Production Design by	Dan Butts,Denise Hudson,David Saenz de Maturana
Art Direction by	Kate Bunch,Lisa Marinaccio
Set Decoration by	Ute Bergk,Megan Malley Cannon,Britt Woods
Costume Design by	Jason Alper
Makeup Department	Helen Kalognomos,Thomas Kolarek,Erwin H. Kupitz,Matthew W. Mungle
Production Management	Jamie D. Boscardin,Brad Goodman,Francesco Marras,Sonja B. Zimmer
Second Unit Director or Assistant Director	Miguel Lombardi,Eliot Mathews,Dale Stern
Art Department	Chris Buchinsky,Skip Crank,Oliver Dear,Marjorie Eber,Michael Glynn,Randy Hearne,Anson Jew,Douglas R. Johnson,John Paul J.P. Jones,Bianca Makarewicz,Frank Noack,Ghassan Salti,Lupe Sanchez,Alba Siles,Alexx Thompson,Eric Whitney
Sound Department	Sarah Bourgeois,Jeremy Brill,Bill Burns,Susan Dudeck,Alison Fisher,Alan Freedman,Scott Harber,Jack Heeren,Kaspar Hugentobler,Scott A. Jennings,Goro Koyama,Andy Malcolm,Michael O Farrell,Yves-Marie Omnes,Brandon Proctor,Gary A. Rizzo,Joel Shryack,D. Chris Smith,Don White,James Wright,Jenna Dalla Riva,Keith A. Garcia,Brooke Graeff,Jonas Jansson,Sean Madden,Jordan O Neill
Visual Effects by	Kyle Absten,David Carriker,Chris Chappell,Antonio Cicarelli,Dave Corwin,Scott M. Davids,Melissa DeLong,Mark Intravartolo,Jalal Jemison,Adam Lima,Eroc Moralls,David B. Wilson
Stunts	Eddie Braun,Alex Daniels,Christian Hebenstreit,Oliver Keller,Shawn Patrick Lane,Hugh Aodh O Brien
Camera and Electrical Department	Michael Alba,Thierry Bohnke,Jimmy Bourcier,Marc Christie,Autumn Eakin,Martin Frank,Luke Geissbuhler,Felice Guzzi,Nate Havens,John Johns,Shane D. Kelly,Matt Mindlin,Jon Myers,John C. Nadeau,David Newbert,Marcus Pohlus,Lars Richter,Mark Schwartzbard,Michael Penn Smith,Owen A. Smith,Pedretti Stefano,Kevin Tiesiera,Tracy Tucker,Timothy N. Walker,Rob Pagliaro
Casting Department	Ben Harris,Dennis Overeem,Johanna Ragwitz
Costume and Wardrobe Department	Lindsey Kear,Dayna Pink,Jennifer Starzyk,Amy Brownson
Editorial Department	Brandon Balin,Adam Beasley,Robert Berman,Nathan Bruner,Thomas J. Cabela,Bryan Cantrall,Tricia Chiarenza,Marisa Clayton,Pete Conlin,Rachelle Dang,Kheireddine El-Helou,Joe Finley,Cathy Hair,Jonathan Hoffman,Mikki Levi,Jeff Mee,Mark Miessner,Jason Modica,Kevin Tent,Steven Trapani
Location Management	Jeremy Alter,Aric Bednarik,Maria K. Chavez,Mitch Harbeson,Nadia Husseini,Anton Pardoe,Alon Tuval,Sergio De Vidovich,Nadia Naffa,Scott Trimble,Mathew A. Villalobos
Music Department	Christine Bergren,David Blanco,Tom Brown,Neil Cross,Greg Dennen,Pete Drummond,Christopher Guardino,Richard Henderson,Jim Hoffman,Stephanie Lowry,Victor Pesavento,Peter Rotter,Dennis S. Sands,Keith Schofield,Steven L. Smith,Damian Wagner,Rich Wheeler
Transportation Department	Andreas Abraham,Bruce Callahan,Neil Chisholm,David Christenson,Curtis Clark,Royale Edward,Kirk Huston,Peter Ortega,Chris Stephens,Olivier Suffert
Additional Crew	Jesse J. Adams,Robyn Adams,Wendy Altman-Cohen,Keith Anthony,Kieran Baker,Chelsea Barnard,Tracy Bitterolf,Allison Boon,Glen Burton,Matthew Buzzell,Jordi Caballero,Lorenzo Caccialanza,Tom Case,Cara Casey,Pierre Cheminat,June Christopher,Michael Cleaver,Adam Cuthbert,Dennis Davidson,Steven Davis,Richard Davison,Maureen Duffy,Jason S. Edwards,Kathleen Egan,Michelle Elkin,Stephen Feder,Heather Feldbaum,Tal Fiala,Kris Fogel,Donald Fullilove,Natalia Garcia,Jamie Glassman,Christopher Godfrey,Marissa Goodman,Michelle Graham,Josh GreenbArg,Thomas den Haan,Lon Haber,Tomer Halfon,Julie Hansen,Art Kimbro,John Kiriakou,Richard Klein,Ashley Kravitz,Kea Könneker,Alexandra Lambrinidis,Nicolas Leclerc,Keri Lederman,Ryan Leiderman,Geri Logan,Paula P. Manzanedo,Lucia Marasa,Michèle Maurer,Carole McGorrian,Scott Menville,Dina Morrone,Hani Al Naimi,Don Orlando,Laurie Petok,Marguerite Pomerhn Derricks,Shani Pride,Lisa Rudin,Sam Sako,John Sanchez,Kevin Schwimer,Zach Selwyn,Mark Shockley,Russell Smith,Greg Stephenson,Jessica Jane Stewart,John Hans Tester,Clare Tucker,Matthew Walsh,Claudette Wells,Stephanie Wescott,Robyn Wholey,Lavinia Zetina,John Hamilton
Thanks	Jesse Armstrong,Sam Bain,Stephen Barton,Etan Cohen,Roger Drew,Isla Fisher,Carrye Gilliland Glazar,John Hamburg,Eric Olander,Guy Oseary,Seth Rogen,Will Smith,Matt Stone,Dara Tallon,Mike White
Genres	Comedy
Companies	Universal Pictures, Media Rights Capital (MRC), Everyman Pictures
Countries	USA, UK
Languages	English, German
ContentRating	R
ImDbRating	5.9
ImDbRatingVotes	149192
MetacriticRating	54
Keywords	mockumentary,fame,austrian,social satire,sexual humor