83. Kayhan; movie review

KAYHAN
Cert 12A
104 mins
BBFC advice: Contains moderate sex references, discriminatory

Oh, no - another Sunday afternoon spent in the company of an unbearably loud Turkish comedian.
I hadn't spotted that Togan Gökbakar's Kayhan is rated at a startling 1.7/10 of Internet Movie Data Base until after Mrs W and I had watched it.
If I had I would have been prepared for more than an hour and a half of Sahan Gökbakar's oafishness.
Indeed, if I had picked up that Gökbakar was Kayhan's star, I would have realised what was to come, having endured his Recep Ivedik franchise.
With due respect to the audience at Lee Valley Odeon, I believe that Gökbakar's humour appeals to the lowest common denominator.
Kayhan is bombastic, very loud, has a catalogue of irritating habits and the manner in which he shouts people down appeals to me as little as it does to the movie's other characters who literally run in the opposite direction when he appears.
And yet, just like Recep Ivedik, condemnation is water of a ducks back to this inside-and-out-ugly know-it-all.
Togan Gökbakar's film surrounds the bizarre behaviour of this man-child who travels from Ankara to Istanbul to a reunion of a school in which he had no friends.
In fact, he was so loathed that none of his fellow class mates have turned up.
Both Mrs W and I could understand them - nobody would want to spent more than 10 seconds in Kayhan's company.
Except, for reasons which would couldn't fathom, one decent fella (Irfan Kangi) who actually acknowledges him as a friend but is rewarded by physical and mental torture.
During the opening minute of Kayhan, Mrs W and I turned to each other and rolled our eyes, knowing that we would be in for more than an hour and a half of boorish slapstick.
Why others in the audience at Lee Valley Odeon found it so funny is a mystery.

Reasons to watch: If you are into puerile bullying humour
Reasons to avoid: Too many to list

Laughs: none from us - plenty from the kids behind us
Jumps: none
Vomit: none
Nudity: none
Overall rating: 2/10

The big question: Why is Sahan Gökbakar's oafishness so popular with Turkish audiences?

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