Brüno (pronounced as Bruno) is a 2009 British mockumentary comedy film directed by Larry Charles and starring Sacha Baron Cohen, who produced, co-wrote, and starred as the gay Austrian fashion journalist Brüno. The film is the third based on characters from Da Ali G Show, following Ali G Indahouse and Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan.

Plot[link]

Gay Austrian fashion reporter Brüno is fired from his own television show, Funkyzeit mit Brüno (Funkytime with Brüno) after disrupting a Milan Fashion week catwalk (whose audience included Paul McCartney), and his lover Diesel (Clifford Bañagale) leaves him for another man. Accompanied by his assistant's assistant, Lutz (Gustaf Hammarsten), he travels to the United States to become "the biggest Austrian superstar since Hitler".

Brüno unsuccessfully attempts an acting career as an extra on NBC's Medium. He then interviews Paula Abdul, using "Mexican chair-people" in place of furniture (Abdul goes along with everything, explaining how she aspires to help people, until a naked man, adorned with sushi, is wheeled into the room). 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, calling it "worse than cancer". Brüno then decides to make a sex tape, so he interviews Ron Paul, claiming to have mistaken him for drag queen RuPaul. While waiting in a hotel room with Paul, Brüno begins undressing and flirting causing Paul to leave angrily and call him "queer as blazes".

Brüno consults a spiritualist (Gary Williams) to contact the deceased Rob Pilatus of Milli Vanilli for advice, miming various sex acts on the invisible "Pilatus". He consults charity PR consultants Nicole and Suzanne DeFosset 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. In an interview with Israeli and Palestinian professors he sings his own "Dove of Peace" while forcing the two to caress each others hands. He also meets with Ayman Abu Aita, a "terrorist group leader, Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades" in a location described as a Palestinian refugee camp in Lebanon, where he hopes to be kidnapped.^[3][4] Brüno insults Abu Aita's hair then says that "King Osama" looks like a dirty wizard or a homeless Santa Claus. Abu Aita's translator orders Brüno to leave. He stops off in Nairobi to pick up a few things, including a child, saying he is "black gold".

Brüno interviews parents of child models, asking if their toddlers would be ready to lose weight, undergo liposuction, operate "antiquated heavy machinery" or "amateur science", or dress in Nazi uniforms. 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 "swapping him" for a U2 Product Red iPod. He shows photographs of the boy covered with bees, on a crucifix and in a jacuzzi next to adults in a 69 position. The audience is appalled and social services take the baby 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 at Madison County Office of Alternative Sentencing and Release in Huntsville, Alabama.^[5] after being arrested. Lutz says he loves Brüno but Brüno tells him he does not love him, having been influenced by "carb goggles". Lutz leaves Brüno.

After realizing the biggest names in Hollywood are straight (citing Tom Cruise, Kevin Spacey and John Travolta), Brüno consults two Christian gay converters to help him become heterosexual. He attempts activities, such as joining the National Guard, going hunting in Alabama, learning karate and attending a swingers party at which he is whipped by a dominatrix (played by pornstar Michelle McLaren). These attempts end miserably due to Brüno's failure to keep his gay traits hidden, but he vows to become straight.

Eight months later, a now-heterosexual 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 calls Brüno a faggot. The two fight, only to rekindle their love, making out and stripping in front of the shocked spectators who throw objects into the cage. The clip gets international press and the now-famous Brüno attempts to marry Lutz and gets O.J. back in exchange for a MacBook Pro. Brüno records a charity song, "Dove of Peace", featuring Bono, Elton John (seated at a piano on a Mexican “chair-person“), Chris Martin, Snoop Dogg, Sting and Slash at Abbey Road Studios.

Deleted scenes[link]

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.^[6]

The DVD includes extended and deleted scenes, such as Brüno interviewing Pete Rose, trying to make a sex tape with John R. Bolton and Tom Ridge, becoming a reporter at NBC affiliate KETK-TV in Tyler, Texas, and attending a Proposition 8 rally.

Michael Jackson incident[link]

Following the sudden death of Michael Jackson on 25 June 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 LaToya 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 a naked man. Brüno then asked LaToya to let him look at her mobile phone in order to get her brother Michael's phone number. The scene was later confirmed to be removed from the film permanently, but is included in the DVD and Blu-ray release's special features.^[7]

Production[link]

The theme song from the beginning of the film is "Nessaja" from German electronic dance band Scooter, who also contributed to the theme to the Brüno segments on Da Ali G Show.

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.^[8]

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 1500 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" starts to play and they both start kissing and stripping, the place went wild and people 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.^[9][10]

In July 2008, Tyler, Texas television station KETK-TV was approached by a "documentary film-maker" 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.^[11]

In September 2008, video and photographs were released showing Baron Cohen (as Brüno) storming the catwalk with objects on his velcro outfit during an Ágatha Ruiz de la Prada fashion show in Milan (at which Paul McCartney also was present). Baron Cohen managed to walk down the runway for a few moments before lights were dimmed and security guards escorted him away. This occurred after Baron Cohen and his crew were allegedly stopped by security while attempting to enter back-stage at two other shows during Milan's fashion week.^[12]

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.^[13] Though he appeared to fool most, he was recognized by some at the rally and whisked away before he could be interviewed by reporters.

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,^[14] 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."^[15]

The production team also deceived presidential candidate Ron Paul into being interviewed by Brüno by posing as an Austrian TV reporter looking to question the congressman about economic issues. The interview starts out normally, but after a staged technical error, Brüno suggests he and Dr. Paul wait in the other room while the crew fixes the illumination. It is there that Brüno turns on music and begins dancing, which Ron Paul ignores at first. However, 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, she 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," she 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."^[16]

The scene filmed during a taping of The Richard Bey Show, however, was staged, as 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.^[15]

In July 2009, documents released under the Freedom of Information Act from the Alabama National Guard showed the tactics utilized by the producers of Brüno to gain access to the base.^[17] Posing as a German documentary film crew, the producers falsely represented their project, and in e-mails obtained from the National Guard, they stated, "We have been exploring the fabric of America, telling the story of her citizens by visiting the workplace... While in the Huntsville, Alabama area, we would be honored to film with the Alabama National Guard. You are a strong and proud organization that carries out your challenging duties with bravery and class."

Nicole and Suzie DeFosset, the twins behind the public relation firm that Baron Cohen's character ostensibly goes to for advice about Darfur,^[18] claimed they realized the filming (they were paid to be on camera) was some kind of prank. They said they did not realize that they were part of the film until a friend contacted them 11 months after the incident.

Baron Cohen suffered a severe reaction to hydrogen peroxide after bleaching his hair in preparation for the role of Brüno. Although the incident temporarily slowed the production of the film, he suffered no long-lasting injuries.^[19]

The film's credits name many well-known writers who made small contributions of additional material and ideas, including Matt Lucas (former writer for the Channel 4 Ali G Show), Jesse Armstrong, Sam Bain, Patrick Marber, and Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg (former writers for the HBO series).

Release[link]

Though the film was originally slated for a May 15, 2009 release,^[20] the release was later moved to July 10, 2009.^[21] The film received an early release in Australia, Switzerland, Belgium, the Netherlands, New Zealand,^[22] and Iceland on July 8 and in Germany, Greece, Ireland, Serbia,^[23] Slovenia,^[24] Israel, and Bosnia and Herzegovina^[25] on July 9, 2009. The film was then released internationally on July 10.

Promotion[link]

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, and leaving Eminem laughing to himself in his hotel room about how the crowd was easily fooled.^[26]

Brüno also appeared on The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien where he performed a lap dance for Conan O'Brien and briefly lowered his trousers in front of the host. He approximately did the same routine on French Canal+ show Le Grand Journal, lapdancing and showing his behind to host Michel Denisot, then eventually dropping the trousers to reveal flesh-colored thongs imprinted with a picture of French President Nicolas Sarkozy. On the same day he was parading half-naked, surrounded with dancers, on the Champs-Élysées.

Ban in Ukraine[link]

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.^[27] The reason for the prohibition was that nine out of 14 experts of a commission of experts said the film contained "obscene language, homosexual scenes, and other scenes of offensive nature never shown in Ukraine.^{[27][not in citation given]} The "Vinnytsya Human Rights Group" immediately expressed its anger with the ban.^[28] An unofficial premiere of the film in Kiev on July 22, 2009 was disrupted by a smoke bomb.^[29][30]

Home media[link]

The film was released on DVD and Blu-ray on November 17, 2009. Special features include deleted/alternate/extended scenes and an audio commentary by Sacha Baron Cohen and Larry Charles.^[31] Despite having an 81-minute runtime in theaters, the DVD carries an extended version of 108 minutes.

Reception[link]

Reviews[link]

Among critics and the public, Brüno has received mixed to positive reviews, with general feelings about the film being not as strong as Baron Cohen's previous film, Borat. However, reviews of the premiere screenings of Brüno were generally positive among audiences. Nick Curtis of the Evening Standard wrote that Brüno is "funnier, more offensive, and more outrageous than Borat".^[32] The Telegraph gave the film four stars out of four, saying "impossible not to laugh and also praising Brüno's controversial style of comedy."^[33] 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.^[34] 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".^[35]

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."^[36] 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."^[37] 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.^[38]

Metacritic gives Brüno an average score of 54, suggesting "mixed or average reviews".^[39] However, currently holds a 67% "fresh" rating on Rotten Tomatoes and is advertised as a "Certified Fresh Pick".^[40] 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.^[41]

Reception in Austria[link]

While Borat was criticised in Kazakhstan, Austrians were generally positive about Brüno. Some commented that the film places Austria in the spotlight, and that "it might stop people confusing Austria with Australia." Others regarded the humour as "pretty average" and "inoffensive to Austria."^[42] Within the Austrian press, reactions have been generally mild and positive, although the film has also been labelled as "repetitive". Christian Fuchs, from the Austrian radio station FM4, writes that "hidden beneath the hard-as-nails satirist Cohen, lies a humanist who enlightens." However, the film has 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 Hitler,^[43] even going as far as calling Mel Gibson "der Führer".

Box office[link]

Brüno topped the charts with $33 million in its first week. It has made $136,933,838 worldwide of which $60,054,530 was from Canada and the United States.^[2]

LGBT response[link]

Some LGBT groups have criticised the character as perpetuating LGBT stereotypes while simultaneously enlightening institutionalised homophobia issues.^[44] "Sacha Baron Cohen's well-meaning attempt at satire is problematic in many places and outright offensive in others," Rashad Robinson, senior director of media programs for the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) told The New York Times.^[45]

Lawsuit[link]

On May 22, 2009, a charity worker at a seniors' bingo game sued Baron Cohen, claiming an incident shot for the film at a charity bingo tournament left her disabled.^[46] However, the worker later retracted her statement saying the "actor never struck her", but that he beat her down emotionally to the point she's now confined to a wheelchair.^{[citation needed]} The scene did not make the final cut for the film.

Title[link]

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^[47][48] and mistakenly reported as genuine by a number of sources of film information, including MovieTome, where it is still used in the search results,^[49] the Daily Star,^[50] The Irish Times, The Boston Globe,^[51] and (although no longer) the Internet Movie Database. However, the official Brüno website lists the extended 'title' in its metadata.^[52]

Ayman Abu Aita lawsuit & Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades[link]

On December 2, 2009, it was reported that Ayman Abu Aita, who stated he was falsely portrayed as a terrorist in the film, is filing a lawsuit of $110 million in libel damages for defamation.^[53] Ayman Abu Aita was identified in the film as a member of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades,^[54] an organization responsible for numerous suicide bombings,^[55] Abu Aita says that he was never a member of Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, though he identified as such in a 2002 Boston Globe article.^[56][57] Abu Aita served two years in a prison in Israel for his role in the Second Intifada.^[56] Abu Aita claims he was been misrepresented in the film. For instance, Baron Cohen claims he set up a meeting with Abu Aita in the West Bank with the help of a CIA agent. 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.^[58] The filing of the lawsuit was confirmed at a press conference on December 2, 2009.^[59] Included in the lawsuit are David Letterman, NBC Universal, CBS, Worldwide Pants, Gannett Company and Larry Charles.^[60] In November 2010, the lawsuit was dismissed in Washington D.C. Court so as to be refiled in the Supreme Court of New York.^[61]

Baron Cohen has said he had to increase his security detail following death threats from the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade after the release of the film.^[62] 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 Brigade 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".^[63]

Motion Picture Association of America[link]

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.^[64]

Notes and references[link]

External links[link]

• Official website
• The Best Bruno Website
• Brüno at the Internet Movie Database
• Brüno at AllRovi
• Brüno at Box Office Mojo
• Brüno at Rotten Tomatoes
• Brüno at Metacritic
• Et Tu, Brüno? by Richard Kim, The Nation, July 10, 2009
• Folks Duped by Sacha Baron Cohen in Carrollton are Really Mad by Michael Granberry, The Dallas Morning News, June 7, 2008

Sacha Baron Cohen
Baron Cohen at the New York City premiere of Hugo on 21 November 2011
Born	Sacha Noam Baron Cohen (1971-10-13) 13 October 1971 (age 40) Hammersmith, London, England
Alma mater	Cambridge University
Occupation	Stand-up comedian, writer, actor, voice actor
Years active	1995–present
Notable work(s)	Ali G Borat Brüno Admiral General Aladeen
Spouse	Isla Fisher (m. 2010) «start: (2010-03-15)»"Marriage: Isla Fisher to Sacha Baron Cohen" Location: (linkback:http://en-wiki.pop.wn.com/index.php/Sacha_Baron_Cohen)[1]
Children	2 daughters

Sacha Noam Baron Cohen^[2] (born 13 October 1971) is an English stand-up comedian, writer, actor, and voice actor. A graduate of Cambridge University,^[3] Baron Cohen is most widely known for writing and playing four unorthodox fictional characters: Ali G, Borat, Brüno, and Admiral General Aladeen. In his routines, Baron Cohen's characters interact with unsuspecting people who do not realise they are being set up for comic situations and self-revealing ridicule.

Baron Cohen was named Best Newcomer at the 1999 British Comedy Awards for The 11 O'Clock Show, and since then, his work has been further recognised with two BAFTA Awards for Da Ali G Show, several Emmy nominations, a nomination for an Academy Award for Writing Adapted Screenplay, and a Golden Globe for Best Actor for his work in the feature film Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan. After the release of Borat, Baron Cohen stated that because the public had become too familiar with the characters, he would retire Borat and Ali G. Similarly, after the release of Brüno, Baron Cohen has stated he would also retire the title character.^[4]

Early life[link]

Baron Cohen, the middle of three brothers, was born in Hammersmith, West London. His mother, Daniella Naomi (née Weiser), was born in Israel, and his father, Gerald Baron Cohen, an accountant, is a native of London.^[5][6] Baron Cohen has two brothers: Erran and Amnon.^[7] His family is Jewish.^[8] His paternal grandfather, Morris Cohen, who was from Pontypridd, Wales, had added "Baron" to his surname.^[6][9] His maternal grandmother, who lives in Haifa, Israel, trained as a ballet dancer in Germany.^{[5][10][11][12]} Erran is a composer and has worked on several of his films. Internationally renowned autism researcher Simon Baron-Cohen is his cousin.^[13] Baron Cohen attended Haberdashers' Aske's Boys' School, a private school in Elstree, Hertfordshire, north of London.^[14] He went on to the University of Cambridge, entering Christ's College, Cambridge, where he read history.^[15] While attending the Cambridge University Amateur Dramatic Club, Baron Cohen acted in the plays Fiddler on the Roof and Cyrano de Bergerac, and performed in Habonim Dror Jewish theatre performances.^[16]

Early roles[link]

After leaving university, Baron Cohen worked for a time as a fashion model, appearing in many fashion magazines.^[16] By the early 1990s, he was hosting a weekly programme on Windsor cable television's local broadcasts with Carol Kirkwood, who later became a BBC weather forecaster. In 1995, Channel 4 was planning a replacement for its series The Word, and disseminated an open call for new television presenters. Baron Cohen sent in a tape of himself in the character of Kristo, a fictional television reporter (who developed into the Kazakh Borat Sagdiyev), which caught the attention of a producer. Baron Cohen hosted Pump TV from 1995–1996. In 1996, he began presenting the youth chat programme F2F for Granada Talk TV. He took clown training in Paris, at the Ecole Philippe Gaulier, studying under master-clown Philippe Gaulier. Of his former pupil, Gaulier says: "He was a good clown, full of spirit".^[17] In the late 1990s, Baron Cohen made his first feature film appearance in the British comedy The Jolly Boys' Last Stand. In 2000, Baron Cohen played the part of Super Greg for a series of TV advertisements for Lee Jeans; the advertisements never aired but the website for Super Greg created an internet sensation.^[18]

Characters[link]

Ali G[link]

Baron Cohen as Ali G, offering a speech at Harvard University's Class Day during Commencement ceremonies

Baron Cohen appeared during two-minute sketches as his fashion reporter Brüno on the Paramount Comedy Channel during 1998. He shot to fame when his comic character Ali G, an uneducated, boorish junglist, hailing from Staines (a suburban town in Middlesex, to the west of London), started appearing on the British television show The 11 O'Clock Show on Channel 4, which first went to air 8 September 1998. A year after the premiere of the show, GQ named him comedian of the year.^[19] He won Best Newcomer at the 1999 British Comedy Awards, and was nominated for Best British Entertainment Performance at the British Academy Television Awards.^[19]

Da Ali G Show began in 2000, and won the BAFTA for Best Comedy in the following year.^[20] Also in 2000, Baron Cohen as Ali G appeared as the limousine driver in Madonna's 2000 video "Music", directed by Jonas Åkerlund, who was also responsible for directing the titles for Da Ali G Show.

In 2002, Ali G was the central character in the feature film Ali G Indahouse, in which he is elected to the British Parliament and foils a plot to bulldoze a community centre in his hometown, Staines.^[21] His television show was exported to the United States in 2003, with new episodes set there, for HBO.

Ali G's interviews with celebrities (often politicians) gained notoriety partly because the subjects were not privy to the joke that Ali G, rather than being a real interviewer, was a comic character played by Baron Cohen. According to Rolling Stone magazine, Baron Cohen would always enter the interview area in character as Ali G, carrying equipment and appearing to be an insignificant crew member. He would arrive with a suited man, whom the interviewee naturally thought was the interviewer. Baron Cohen, as Ali G, would sit down to begin conducting the interview by asking the interviewee some preliminary questions. The interviewee, however, would remain under the impression that the smartly-dressed director would be conducting the interview until short notice prior to cameras rolling: this would grant an advantage of surprise, whereby the interviewee would be less likely to opt out of the Ali interview prior to its start.^[22]

The resulting willingness of Baron Cohen's targets to answer his frequently risqué questions often created surprising conversations. Interviewees have included:

• astronaut Buzz Aldrin
• politician and consumer advocate Ralph Nader
• writer Gore Vidal
• real estate mogul Donald Trump
• former U.S. Surgeon General C. Everett Koop
• basketball players Dwyane Wade, Shaquille O'Neal, Steve Nash, Kobe Bryant, Richard Jefferson, Tim Duncan, Ben Wallace and Robert Horry
• former US Secretary of State James Baker III
• former US Attorney General Dick Thornburgh
• businessman and billionaire Mohamed Al-Fayed
• Professor Heinz Wolff
• former US Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich
• political commentator Pat Buchanan
• Professor Noam Chomsky
• footballer David Beckham and his wife, ex-Spice Girl Victoria Beckham, for the UK's Comic Relief
• former UN Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali (whom Baron Cohen, in his Ali G character, referred to as 'Boutros Boutros Boutros-Ghali')
• former Conservative Party MP Neil Hamilton
• journalist Andy Rooney
• Labour politician Tony Benn
• DUP politician Sammy Wilson

Baron Cohen is a supporter of Comic Relief and as Ali G has hosted some interviews for the benefit of the charity.^[23]

Borat[link]

Baron Cohen as Borat, 2006

Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan, a feature film with Borat at the centre, was screened at the 2006 Toronto International Film Festival and released in the United Kingdom on 2 November 2006, in the United States on 3 November 2006 and Australia 23 November 2006. The film is about a journey across the United States in an ice cream truck, in which the main character is obsessed with the idea of marrying Pamela Anderson. The film is a mockumentary which includes interviews with various American citizens that poke fun at American culture, as well as sexism, racism, homophobia, anti-Semitism, jingoism and Baywatch.

It debuted at the #1 spot in the US, taking in an estimated $26.4 million in just 837 theatres averaging $31,600 per theatre, the fourth highest per-theatre average of all time for movies opening wide (500 screens or more), behind Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest and Spider-Man.

Baron Cohen won the 2007 Golden Globe in the "Best Actor – Musical or Comedy" category, his sixth such award. Although Borat was up for "Best Motion Picture — Musical or Comedy", the film lost to Dreamgirls. On 23 January 2007, he was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay. He shared his nomination with the film's co-writers, Ant Hines, Peter Baynham, Sy Mordecai Finesto, Dan Mazer, and Todd Phillips.

Aside from the comic elements of his characters, Baron Cohen's performances are interpreted by some as reflecting uncomfortable truths about his audience. He juxtaposes his own Jewish lineage with the anti-Semitism of his character Borat.^[24]

In 2007, Baron Cohen published a travel guide as Borat, with dual titles: Borat: Touristic Guidings To Minor Nation of U.S. and A. and Borat: Touristic Guidings To Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan.^[25]

On 21 December 2007, Baron Cohen announced he was retiring the character of Borat.^[26]

Brüno[link]

Another alter ego Sacha Baron Cohen performed as is 'Brüno', a flamboyantly gay, allegedly-19-year-old, Austrian fashion show presenter who often lures his unwitting subjects into making provocative statements and engaging in embarrassing behaviour, as well as leading them to contradict themselves, often in the same interview. Brüno asks the subjects to answer 'yes or no' questions with either "Vassup" (whats up) or "Ich don't think so" (No); these are occasionally substituted with "Ach, ja!" (Ah yes!) or "Nicht, nicht" ("Nicht" means "not" in German). In one segment on Da Ali G Show, he encouraged his guest to answer questions with either "Keep them in the ghetto" or "Train to Auschwitz". Brüno's main comedic satire pertains to the vacuity and inanity of the fashion and clubbing world. In May 2009, at the MTV Movie Awards, Baron Cohen appeared as 'Brüno' wearing a white angel costume, a white jock strap, white go-go boots, and white wings; and did an aerial stunt where he dropped from a height (using wires) onto Eminem. Baron Cohen landed on Eminem's lap, with his rear in Eminem's face, prompting Eminem to exit the venue with fellow rappers D12. Eminem later admitted to staging the stunt with Baron Cohen.^[27]

Film[link]

After an intense bidding war that included such Hollywood powerhouses as DreamWorks, Sony, and 20th Century Fox; Universal Pictures paid a reported $42.5 million for the film rights.^[28] A number of shill companies and websites were created in order to draw potential interviewees into interviews by creating an illusion of legitimacy.^[29] The film was released in July 2009.

The Dictator[link]

Baron Cohen's 2012 film, The Dictator, was described by its press as "the heroic story of a dictator who risked his life to ensure that democracy would never come to the country he so lovingly oppressed".^[30] Baron Cohen played Admiral General Aladeen, a dictator from a fictional country called the Republic of Wadiya.^[31][32] Borat and Bruno film director Larry Charles directed the film.^[33] The main target of the film's satire was Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was still alive when the film was written.^[34] The producers of the film were concerned it would anger Gaddafi, possibly even resulting in a terrorist attack, so they released deliberate misinformation saying that the film was loosely based on a romance novel written by former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.^[34][35]

On 26 February 2012, Baron Cohen was allegedly banned from attending the 84th Academy Awards in his role as Admiral General Aladeen but the rumour was denied by the Academy, saying "we haven't banned him. We're just waiting to hear what he's going to do" but made it clear that "Cohen is not welcome to use the red carpet as a platform for a promotional stunt".^[36] Cohen eventually appeared at the awards' red carpet with a pair of uniformed female bodyguards, holding an urn which he claimed was filled with the ashes of Kim Jong-il. The "ashes", which Baron Cohen admitted to Howard Stern on the Tuesday, May 8, 2012 episode of The Howard Stern Show was flour, were "accidentally" spilled onto Ryan Seacrest.

Performer versus characters[link]

Baron Cohen has often been confused with the identity of one of his characters. When he posed as Borat to host the MTV Europe Music Awards in Lisbon, the central Hungarian news wire agency MTI reported that the host was 'Borat Sagdiyev'.^[37] As most Hungarian newspapers and television networks take MTI as their official source, the misinterpretation of the character spread rapidly in Hungary, with some sources (such as TV2) emphasising that a Kazakh news reporter hosted the awards, while others (such as Index.hu) noticed and pointed out the error.^[38]

Controversies and criticism[link]

Baron Cohen has encountered many controversies regarding some of his comic characters:

Sacha Baron Cohen at the E! after party, January 2007.

In an interview with former British MP Neil Hamilton in 2000, Ali G offered Hamilton what was allegedly cannabis, which Hamilton accepted and smoked, creating some minor controversy in the British media.^[39]

At the 2006 MTV Movie Awards, Borat introduced Gnarls Barkley's performance of "Crazy", where he made a comment about Jessica Simpson, saying that he liked her mouth and that he could see it clearly through her denim pants.

At the 2006 UK premiere of Borat, he arrived in Leicester Square in a cart pulled by a mule and a number of "Kazakh women", announcing: "Good evening, gentleman and prostitutes. After this I stay in a hotel in Kings Cross. We will all drink, wrestle with no clothes on and shoot dogs from the window."^[40]

Baron Cohen has had some trouble because of racist or prejudiced comments his characters have made (see Da Ali G Show). HBO spokesman Quentin Schaffer has replied to criticism concerning Baron Cohen's characters, "Through his alter-egos, he delivers an obvious satire that exposes people's ignorance and prejudice in much the same way All in the Family did years ago."^[41] Regarding his portrayal as the anti-Semitic Borat, Baron Cohen says the segments are a "dramatic demonstration of how racism feeds on dumb conformity, as much as rabid bigotry", rather than a display of racism by Baron Cohen himself.^[42] "Borat essentially works as a tool. By himself being anti-Semitic, he lets people lower their guard and expose their own prejudice", Baron Cohen explains.^[11] Addressing the same topic in an NPR interview with Robert Siegel, Baron Cohen says "...and I think that's quite an interesting thing with Borat, which is people really let down their guard with him because they're in a room with somebody who seems to have these outrageous opinions. They sometimes feel much more relaxed about letting their own outrageous, politically incorrect, prejudiced opinions come out."^[43]

Baron Cohen, the grandson of a Holocaust survivor, says he also wishes in particular to expose the role of indifference in that genocide. "When I was in university, there was this major historian of the Third Reich, Ian Kershaw, who said, 'The path to Auschwitz was paved with indifference.' I know it's not very funny being a comedian talking about the Holocaust, but it's an interesting idea that not everyone in Germany had to be a raving anti-Semite. They just had to be apathetic."^[11] Regarding the enthusiastic response to his song, "In My Country There Is Problem" (also known as "Throw the Jew Down the Well"), he says, "Did it reveal that they were anti-Semitic? Perhaps. But maybe it just revealed that they were indifferent to anti-Semitism."^[11]

Baron Cohen walked onto the runway during the Ágatha Ruiz de la Prada fashion show in Milan on 26 September 2008. In the character of one of his alter-egos Brüno, he was wearing a costume made out of velcro. He appeared on the stage with a blanket and items of clothing stuck to his velcro suit. Lights were turned off while security intervened and escorted him off the stage, and the fashion show resumed normally shortly thereafter. Baron Cohen and his team allegedly accessed the fashion show using fake IDs.^[44]

During an appearance on Late Show with David Letterman,^[when?] Baron Cohen stated he was restricted from answering David Letterman's question as to how he managed to get an interview with Pat Buchanan while in character as Ali G due to pending "legal reasons".^[45]

While introducing an award at the 2009 MTV Movie Awards, Baron Cohen was lowered upside-down from the rafters dressed as an angel right into rapper Eminem's lap after an apparently staged problem with his wire harness. Baron Cohen had only a jockstrap on underneath and fully exposed his buttocks in Eminem's face. Eminem swore repeatedly, demanding that his friends, members of D12, each of whom were sitting next to Eminem, remove Baron Cohen, then left the auditorium.^[46] Baron Cohen then announced the winner (Zac Efron) while still hanging from the wires above the stage. It was later revealed that Eminem and Baron Cohen had planned and rehearsed the gag together.^[47]

Pauly Shore claimed, in 2009, that Baron Cohen's film, Brüno, was "stolen from Shore's 'mockumentary'", as the film Brüno had started production after the start of production for Adopted and also featured the main character adopting a child from a Third World nation.^[48]

In March 2012, the organizers of a tournament in Kuwait caused some embarrassment after Baron Cohen's parody of the Kazakhstan national anthem from the film Borat, was played instead of the actual anthem at a medal ceremony.^[49][50] The Kazakhstan shooting team demanded an apology from the organizers, who had mistakenly downloaded Baron Cohen's parody from the Internet.^[51]

Future projects[link]

Baron Cohen will star as Freddie Mercury of the rock band Queen in Mercury, an upcoming film about the period in the band's history from 1971 to the Live Aid concert in 1985.^[52] It was Baron Cohen himself who contacted screenwriter Peter Morgan with the idea of portraying the flamboyant lead singer.^[53] Time commented with approval on his singing ability and physical resemblance to Mercury.^[54]

Other work[link]

Baron Cohen guest-starred in the fifth season Curb Your Enthusiasm, with Dustin Hoffman as a guide to Heaven. He also provided the voice of the ring-tailed lemur king, King Julien, in DreamWorks Animation's film series, Madagascar, and appeared as Will Ferrell's arch rival the French Formula One speed demon Jean Girard in the 2006 hit Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby. He also appeared alongside Johnny Depp in the 2007 film Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street as Signor Adolfo Pirelli, and co-starred in Martin Scorsese's 2011 adventure film Hugo.

Baron Cohen tends to avoid doing interviews out of character. However, in 2004, he did the talk show circuit appearing as himself on Late Show with David Letterman, The Opie and Anthony Show, The Howard Stern Show,^[55] and others in order to promote the upcoming season of his show on HBO. He was also interviewed on NPR's All Things Considered.^[43] He also did an interview with Rolling Stone, published in November 2006, that the magazine labelled as "his only interview as himself".^[11] He also appeared in an interview out of character with Terry Gross on NPR's Fresh Air on 4 January 2007.^[56]

Baron Cohen has twice presented the MTV Europe Music Awards, first as Ali G on 8 November 2001, in Frankfurt, Germany, and then as Borat on 3 November 2005 in Lisbon, Portugal. Baron Cohen appeared out of character to accept an award at the British Comedy Awards in December 2006. He said at the time that Borat could not make it to the awards as "he's guest of honour at the Holocaust denial conference in Tehran",^[57] referring to the International Conference to Review the Global Vision of the Holocaust.

Borat director Larry Charles explains that Baron Cohen generally appears in character partly to "protect his weakness", by focusing public interest on his characters rather than himself.^[58] His other reason, Newsweek claims, is that Baron Cohen is fiercely private: "...according to the UK press, his publicists denied not only that he attended a party for the London premiere of Borat, but also that a party even occurred."^[58]

It was reported online that Baron Cohen might play Freddie Mercury in a biographical film,^[59] but his publicist later declared that Baron Cohen would not do so.^[60] However, on 16 September 2010, representatives for Cohen confirmed that he would indeed be playing the role in an as-of-yet untitled biopic about Mercury.^[61][62]

Baron Cohen shot a spread with supermodel Alessandra Ambrosio for Marie Claire magazine to promote the film Brüno.^[63]

Sports Illustrated's 6 November 2006 issue contains a column called "Skater vs. Instigator", which illustrates various amusing "parallels" between Baron Cohen and figure skater Sasha Cohen, ranging from their mutually held personal significance of the number 4,^[64] to their mutual romantic interests in redheads.

Baron Cohen was featured on Australian talk show Rove as Brüno on 28 June 2009.^{[citation needed]}

Baron Cohen was featured in the Time 100 list for 2007.^[65]

In 2010, Cohen guest-starred on The Simpsons in the episode "The Greatest Story Ever D'ohed" as Jakob, an angry Israeli tour guide.

Personal life[link]

Marriage and family[link]

Baron Cohen married Australian actress Isla Fisher on 15 March 2010.^[66] After three years of study, Fisher converted to Judaism in early 2007.^[67] She received the approval of Baron Cohen's observant Jewish parents.^[68] Baron Cohen and Fisher have two daughters: Olive, born on 19 October 2007 in Los Angeles,^[69] and Elula, born in August 2010.^[70]

Legal issues[link]

Two residents of Glod, Romania, the Gypsy village in which the opening scenes of Borat were filmed, hired attorney Edward Fagan to sue the makers of Borat for $30 million. They alleged that the intent of the film was misrepresented to them, that the poorest members of their village were made to look like "savages", and that they were underpaid, particularly when their minute salaries were compared to the millions earned by the completed film. During several segments, children were filmed with guns and other weapons and in another scene, an amputee who lost his arm was told to wear a rubber fist sex toy.^[71] The lawsuit was dismissed in New York hearing on the grounds that the allegations were too vague to stand up in court.^[72]

The government of Kazakhstan threatened Baron Cohen with legal action following the 2005 MTV Europe Music Awards ceremony in Lisbon, and the authority in charge of the country's country-code top-level domain name removed the website that he had created for his character Borat (previously: http://www.borat.kz) for alleged violation of the law—specifically, registering for the domain under a false name. The New York Times, (among others), has reported that Baron Cohen, (in character as Borat), replied: "I'd like to state that I have no connection with Mr Cohen and fully support my government decision to sue this Jew".^[73] He was, however, defended by Dariga Nazarbayeva, a politician and the daughter of Kazakhstan President Nursultan Nazarbayev, who stated, "We should not be afraid of humour and we shouldn't try to control everything, I think."^[74] The deputy foreign minister of Kazakhstan later invited Baron Cohen to visit the country, stating that he could learn that "women drive cars, wine is made of grapes, and Jews are free to go to synagogues".^[75] After the worldwide success of the Borat film, the Kazakh government, including the president, altered their stance on Baron Cohen's parody, tacitly recognising the invaluable press the controversy created for their country.^[76]

Baron Cohen encountered another problem around his Borat character. Two of the three University of South Carolina students who appear in Borat sued the filmmakers, alleging that they were duped into signing release forms while drunk, and that false promises were made that the footage was for a documentary that would never be screened in the US. On 11 December 2006, a Los Angeles judge denied the pair a restraining order to remove them from the film. The lawsuit was dismissed in February 2007.^[77]

On 22 May 2009, a charity worker at a seniors' bingo game sued Baron Cohen, claiming an incident shot for Brüno at a charity bingo tournament left her disabled.^[78] However, the worker later retracted her statement, saying the "actor never struck her", but that he "beat her down emotionally to the point she's now confined to a wheelchair".^[79] The scene did not make the final cut for the film. The case was dismissed in late November 2009 on Anti-SLAPP grounds with all attorney's fees to be paid by the charity worker. The dismissal was appealed and upheld on 12 September 2011.^[80]

A lawsuit was filed on 30 April 2010 in the District of Columbia by Palestinian Christian Ayman Abu Aita of Beit Sahour, Bethlehem, West Bank, against Baron Cohen relating to his interview which was used in Brüno. Aita alleges that he has been defamed by false accusations that he is a terrorist. Aita included David Letterman in the suit based on comments made during the 7 July 2009 appearance by Baron Cohen on the Late Show with David Letterman.^[81] On 4 November 2010, the D.C. case was dismissed with Aita given 120 days to file in the Supreme Court of the State of New York, County of New York or have the case permanently dismissed.^[82] The case was re-filed in the Supreme Court of New York.^[83]

Israel and Judaism[link]

Baron Cohen first acted in theatrical productions featuring the Socialist-Zionist youth movement Habonim Dror.^[84]

He spent a year in Israel at Kibbutz Rosh HaNikra and Kibbutz Beit HaEmek as part of the Shnat Habonim Dror, as well as taking part in the programme Machon L'Madrichei Chutz La'Aretz for Jewish youth movement leaders.

According to Baron Cohen, "I wouldn't say I am a religious Jew. I am proud of my Jewish identity and there are certain things I do and customs I keep." He tries to keep kosher and attends synagogue about twice a year.^[85]

Baron Cohen frequently spoke in Hebrew while playing the anti-Semitic character Borat. He also sang the lyrics from an old kibbutz song (pretending that it was the Kazakh national anthem) in an episode of Da Ali G Show. In one of the deleted scenes of his film, after being asked by the host-pastor to lead the table in a pre-meal prayer service, Baron Cohen, in his character role of Borat, sings a lengthy hymn (not Hebrew)^[86] that has clear similarities to the Mussaf prayer service of the Jewish High Holidays.^{[original research?]} He actually repeatedly sings two Polish phrases "Satan does not speak English" (Szatan nie mówi po angielsku)^[87] and "Could you speak slowly please?"^{[original research?]}

Awards and nominations[link]

This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (December 2010)

• 1999 – Won British Comedy Award, Best Male Comedy Newcomer for The 11 O'Clock Show (1998)^[88]
• 2000 – Nominated BAFTA TV Award, Best Entertainment Performance for The 11 O'Clock Show (1998)^[19]
• 2000 – Nominated National Television Awards, UK, Most Popular Comedy Performer for Da Ali G Show (2000)
• 2000 – Won TV Quick Award, TV Personality of the Year for Da Ali G Show (2000)
• 2001 – Won BAFTA TV Award, Best Comedy (Programme or Series) for Da Ali G Show (2000) (shared)
• 2001 – Won BAFTA TV Award, Best Comedy Performance for Da Ali G Show (2000)
• 2003 – Nominated Emmy Award, Outstanding Non-Fiction Program (Alternative) for Da Ali G Show (2003) (shared)
• 2003 – Nominated Emmy Award, Outstanding Writing for Non-Fiction Programming for Da Ali G Show (2003) (shared)
• 2004 – Nominated Golden Satellite Award, Best Performance by an Actor in a Series, Comedy or Musical for Da Ali G Show (2003)
• 2005 – Nominated Emmy Award, Outstanding Variety, Music or Comedy Series for Da Ali G Show (2003) (shared)
• 2005 – Nominated Emmy Award, Outstanding Writing for a Variety, Music or Comedy Program for Da Ali G Show (2003) (shared)
• 2006 – Won Ronnie Barker Award^[89]
• 2007 – Won MTV Movie Award for Best Kiss alongside Will Ferrell in Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby

[edit] Borat awards and nominations

• 2006 – Won: Los Angeles Films Critics Association Award for Best Actor.
• 2006 – Won: San Francisco Films Critics Circle Award for Best Actor.
• 2006 – Winner: Toronto Film Critics Association Award for Best Actor.
• 2006 – Won: Deutscher Comedypreis (German comedy award) for Best International Comedy.
• 2007 – Won: Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Comedy/Musical
• 2007 – Nominated: Golden Globe for Best Picture Comedy/Musical.
• 2007 – Nominated: London Film Critics' Circle Award for British Actor of the Year.
• 2007 – Nominated: Writers Guild of America Award for Best Adapted Screenplay (shared).
• 2007 – Nominated: Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay (shared).
• 2007 – Won: MTV Movie Award for Best Comedic Performance and Nominated for Best Movie as well and Best Fight with Ken Davitian.
• 2007 – Won: The Evening Standard British Film Awards: Peter Sellers award for Best Comedy.

Filmography[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Sacha Baron Cohen

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Sacha Baron Cohen

• Sacha Baron Cohen on National Public Radio in 2007
• Sacha Baron Cohen at the Internet Movie Database
• Sacha Baron Cohen at the British Film Institute's Screenonline – biography and credits
• Sacha Baron Cohen discography at Discogs
• Sacha Baron Cohen audio interview with NPR's Robert Siegel
• And Now for the World According to Borat and Sacha Baron Cohen, Authors Den, 24 March 2007
• Sacha Baron Cohen: Killing off Borat, article at The Daily Telegraph, 21 December 2007