Bruno Banned in Ukraine

16 July 2009

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British funnyman Sasha Baron Cohen's hit new movie Bruno has been banned by authorities in the Ukraine amid fears the controversial comedy will "damage the morality" of locals.

The outrageous film, starring Cohen as gay Austrian fashionista Bruno, has been a success in the U.S. and U.K., debuting atop box office charts on both sides of the Atlantic.

But officials in the eastern European country are refusing to allow it to be released in their cinemas because of the "unjustified" shots of genitals and homosexual sex scenes.

The decision to ban the film came after nine out of the culture ministry's 14 members agreed to veto its release.

The film contains unjustified showing of genital organs and sexual relations and shows homosexual acts and homosexual perversions in an explicitly realist manner

Explaining the ruling in a letter to the country's film distributor Sinergia, officials say "The Ukrainian ministry of culture has decided to ban all showings of this film on Ukrainian territory.

"The film contains unjustified showing of genital organs and sexual relations and shows homosexual acts and homosexual perversions in an explicitly realist manner.

(It also contains) sadistic manifestations which could damage the morality of citizens".

Meanwhile in other Bruno related news Sacha Baron Cohen's hit movie is dominating on both sides of the Atlantic - it has knocked Ice Age: Dawn Of The Dinosaurs off the top of the U.K. box office charts following a similar feat in the U.S.

The comedy, based on Cohen's outrageous gay Austrian fashionista, took nearly $7.5 million (£5 million) in its first weekend, while the third instalment of the Ice Age franchise followed closely behind with $7.1 million (£4.8 million).

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, which was officially named the biggest film of 2009 so far last week (07Jul09), came in at number three with $2.2 million (£1.45 million), while The Hangover took $1.8 million (£1.23 million).

Johnny Depp's Public Enemies rounded out the top five, grossing $1.6 million (£1.04 million).

The only other new entry to make the U.K. top 10 was Bollywood movie Shortkut, which debuted in 10th place

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