Kejarlah Daku Kau Kutangkap

Kejarlah Daku Kau Kutangkap
A Romantic Comedy in Indonesian Taste

Release Year: 1986
Distributor : -
Director : Chaerul Umam
Producer : -
Screenplay: -
Cast : Lydia Kandou/ Deddy Mizwar
Music : Frankie Raden
Cinematography : Wagimin A. Tjokrowardojo
Editing : -
Budget :-
Duration : -

There is one moment that sticks in my mind from Kejarlah Daku Kau Kutangkap (1986). After married, Ramona (Lidya Kandau) became a housewife while her husband Ramadhan (Dedy Mizwar) worked as a journalist.

Not only cleaning the house, Mona sold her husband’s old magazine collections to the junkman. Coming home from working, Ramadhan asked about them.

“I sold it” Mona replied coolly.

“They’re not just old magazines. They are my documentations” Rama complained effortlessly.

That scene reminds me of my wife at home who ever did the same thing to my old magazines and comic books for hygienic reason.

I honestly don’t give a damn. I always add up my magazines and books collection until now. Luckily, my wife has not thrown them away again, at least yet, though she’s told me several times that she would.

Anyone who’s married would enjoy the movie with a smile and also admire how Asrul Sani as the scriptwriter displays the bittersweet in a marriage. It’s indeed caricature but still authentic.

After living together, you might see a wife asking her husband to get accompanied to buy one thing. In fact, she could be walking hither and hither from one shop to another, looking for clothes, and later on go home buying something else. What the husband does at that time would just be following her everywhere she goes.

A friend of mine in Bintang Indonesia ever wrote that this movie was made a long time ago but its universal scenario makes it still relevant even in this modern era. Asrul Sani as one of Indonesia’s best scriptwriter gave a strong story base for the director Chaerul Umam.

This movie was never perfect without the deep play from Deddy Mizwar, Lidya Kandau, Ikranegara, and Uly Artha. In 1986’s Indonesian Movie Festival, Kejarlah Daku kau Kutangkap won a Citra Award for the category of best scenario and best comedy. From Perini’s records, this 109-minute movie was viewed by 166.724 movie lovers in Jakarta, making it the 5^th best seller movie in 1986.

What I want to say is this is one of the Indonesian greatest movies by the local moviemaker, and for the romantic comedy genre as well. This movie could also stand in the same level with western movie in similar theme like When Harry Met Sally (1989).

A journalist fell in love, married, and by chance had an old fussy bachelor uncle while his wife had a man hater best friend. It seems like it’s just an ordinary plot. But it’s not Asrul if he could not turn it into an extraordinary and interesting storyline.

The plot is simple. There was a column on Ramadhan’s newspaper where he worked as a journalist called “Yang Bernasib Baik Hari Ini” (Today’s Luckiest). The one whose picture was taken got a money prize. One day, Ramadhan took a picture of Ramona who was playing volleyball for it.

The problem is, Ramona did not look too beautiful in that picture. Her friend Mami suggested that Ramona should sue the newspaper for taking pictures without permission. Ramadhan then persuaded her not to do that. Out of expectation, they fell in love and ended in marriage.

Seriously, there is nothing serious from the plot. Asrul just made solid dialogues for it and, maybe, filled in some of his idea. It’s just about a household parody and who in charge is there, the male or female.

For an instance, Asrul gave Markum (Ikranegara) this dialog “Who thinks that women are weak? It’s nobody but the women themselves. By so, they can always hide behind their weakness to manipulate man as their slaves”

The title is also unique, Kejarlah Daku Kau Kutangkap, come here and I’ll get you. It becomes another love jargon. At least, this movie gives a perception that a man who tries to get a woman he loves eventually will be the one who get caught. They won’t be the subject anymore but the object and that commonly happens to a man who is in search of his love. Love is really absurd. It’s what’s going on between Ramadhan and Ramona. A love-hate love relationship. It’s about a simple thing that gets complicated for the need of emancipation. Some people judge this movie as a satire on the battle of sexes. However, love wins everything in the end.

Beyond the theme of the story, Asrul could replicate the classic formula of Hollywood’s romantic comedy for local production. The good thing is he needed not to plagiarize it because what came out from him was his style with his own words.

It is so easy to describe this movie as a Hollywood classic tale in three chapters (opening or introduction, climax, and conclusion or closing). However, Hollywood style could be less cliché whenever converted with Indonesian taste, like the scene when they were waiting for bus. It can only appear in Indonesian movies with oriental culture.

This is what Asrul and Chaerul Umam did for the movie. They put Hollywood’s romantic comedy elements into it. You can see it from Ramadhan and Ramona’s love life. When they split up, they realized that they actually still love each other. It’s so Hollywood romantic movie typical like those starring Meg Ryan, Tom Hanks, or Katherine Heigl, but of course still in Indonesian manner as when Ramadhan and Ramona hug each other, making themselves a live romance show on the street while creating a traffic jam where truck and car drivers yelling at them.

Kejar daku/ kejar daku/ biar kau kutangkap….

Come here/ come here/ and I’ll catch you…

Ade Irwansyah          

Film critics and editor at tabloidbintang.com