I’m sorry Bruno, you’re no Borat

July 9, 2009 - 11:28 AM by David

bruno Maybe because it’s been universally panned or ignored since its release, the Israeli premiere today of Bruno, the latest film by Sacha Baron Cohen isn’t ruffling feathers or making waves the way that Borat did.

Cohen filmed some of the scenes for Bruno, based on his gay, Austrian fashion photographer TV character in Israel – in one, he’s chased through Mea Shearim by a haredi mob, and of course, there’s Yossi Alpher, the co-editor of BitterLemons.org and a former Mossad agent, who has a minor role in the film.

Alpher and his BitterLemons counterpart, former Palestinian Authority Labor Minister Ghassan Khatib, were duped by Bruno into sitting down for an interview about the Israel-Palestine conflict. They were dumbfounded when Cohen asked questions like why there was so much hatred for “humous,” confusing the food with Hamas. Alpher told The Jerusalem Post this week that he wasn’t planning on seeing the film.

But, about the only controversy surrounding the film’s release here took place a couple weeks ago when Israel Railways banned a poster on their trains and depots advertising Bruno because of what it calls controversial content.

The poster showed Bruno naked in a field of flowers. Following the Israel Railways refusal, the campaign switched to pictures in which Bruno is shown in the field wearing shorts and a shirt.

Aside from Alpher, the other targets of Bruno’s humor are taking things in stride. A spokesman for the Austrian Embassy told the Post, that despite attempting to do for Austria what Borat did for Kazhakstan, the film was being taken lightly in Vienna.

“If it’s something which attracts people to this movie then it’s fine with us,” said Arad Benko, spokesman for the embassy. “Austria in terms of tourism in absolute numbers is in the top 10 in the world… There is no reason for us to be mad.”

In Bruno, Cohen states that he wants “to be the biggest Austrian superstar since Hitler.” Despite ruminations about the Austrian connection to Hitler, Benko said he is “totally cool” with the movie.

Likewise, members of the gay community in Israel said they had no problem with Cohen’s over-the-top portrayal of Bruno.

“It’s the same way that Borat didn’t represent anyone for real,” said Amit Lev, spokesman for the Jerusalem Open House for Pride and Tolerance. “It’s a comedy show, it’s a movie. We don’t have to take everything so seriously. It’s funny, that’s it.”

“They should grow a sense of humor,” Lev said of people deriding Cohen for his caricature of a gay man. “It’s nothing but a character. It’s overly exaggerated just to be funny. People have to laugh – it’s only human.”

Unfortunately, according to the critics, there’s not that much to laugh at in Bruno.

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