Ephemeris of the Mind (Film Review) Brüno
Time to read: 2 min read
Movie Poster
Ich was going to be the biggest Austrian superstar since Hitler.
Previous Larry Charles review:
Review
Sacha Baron Cohen is back and this time his character is Brüno Gehard, a gay Austrian fashion reporter who has been fired from his show. Accompanied with his assistant Lutz (Gustaf Hammarsten), Brüno travels to America in order to become a celebrity.
Cohen is back at it again with his antics involving unknowing participants. His bits range from trying to seduce Ron Paul to traveling to the Middle East to resolve the conflict between Israel and Palestine. The satirical examination of the entertainment industry, as well as America’s tolerance of LGBTQ+ peoples, while superficial, is pretty accurate.
The comparison of Brüno to Borat is inevitable. In both films, Cohen takes advantage of his American target’s ignorance of foreign cultures. The humour in both films is pitch black and deeply offensive. Brüno, however, relies more on shock value to be funny. Overall, I found Borat to be the funnier of the two as the humour feels less scripted and doesn’t rely as much on the set up of the bit to be funny. Brüno still has an eccentric sense of humour, though.
Conclusion
A bit too reliant on shock value, but still a hilarious film.