Feeling Blue and 31 (2010)

Movie ★ 5.2

31 is popular Turkish slang for masturbation. Feeling Blue and 31 is the story of two young men whose lives quite literally come to rest upon the performance of their appendages. Ege and Kerem are 25-year-old virgins who masturbate excessively. One day Eros appears to them and threatens to castrate them if they fail to get laid within the subsequent seven days. Thus begins an often hilarious, tragic- comic struggle to have sex which involves a dance class, bar-hopping and sultry neighbours. Shot as the result of a bet over just 24 hours, the film has a winningly natural feel, in large part due to the directors’ decision to allow the actors to improvise dialogue within the framework of each scene. First-time actors Ozan Özcan and Deniz Alnıtemiz are perfect as the bumbling, funny and frequently terribly embarrassing leads who come across a bit like Turkey’s answer to ‘Flight of the Conchords’. Destined for cultish fame, Feeling Blue and 31 makes its world premiere at !f.

Ali Yorgancıoğlu Director