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Jakarta Post

A moving yet funny comedy

Every two years since 2007, a movie entitled Get Married is released in time for the Idul Fitri holiday

Makbul Mubarak (The Jakarta Post)
Jakarta
Sun, September 11, 2011

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A moving yet funny comedy

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very two years since 2007, a movie entitled Get Married is released in time for the Idul Fitri holiday. The latest flick — Get Married 3 — is the funniest and most sophisticated of them all.

The Get Married saga centers on Maemunah (Nirina Zubir), who has a mixed-class marriage with the rich Rendy (Fedi Nuril).

The role of Rendy has been played by three different actors. Richard Kevin and Nino Fernandez played the role in the first and the second films, respectively. Fedi Nuril, as the actor cast in this current offering, adds local taste to Get Married 3, as the two previous Rendys were half-European.

The latest story dovetails with the ending of Get Married 2, when Maemunah gave birth to triplets. A conflict emerges as Mae’s parents insist on naming their grandchildren after local, Islamic names, like Zaelani or Khaidir, while Rendy’s mom wants to name them after the popular trio from the Twilight series: Bella, Edward and Jacob.

Sounds trivial? Not at all. That sequence actually provides us with a gradual introduction to the main conflict, where all the members of the family want to have control over raising the triplets.

Rendy and Mae decide to name them Mark — from Mark Zuckerberg, despite his being a Jew [yes, the movie explains the reason]; Oprah from Oprah Winfrey, despite the fact that she is “fat and black” [the movie’s words, not mine]; and Hanung, probably inspired by the director of the first two films, Hanung Bramantyo.

I hate adulation but I have to say that Monty Tiwa is a director with the best sense of humor in the country’s film scene today.

He uses almost all types of comedy to make fun of his story and characters, including screwball comedy, black comedy, satire, and slapstick; added to which, he employs a variety of storytelling techniques, such as slow motion, split screen shots, and flashbacks with near-complete narrative significance.

The film is based on a good script by Cassandra Massardi, who adapted the story from an idea forwarded by noted intellectual Din Syamsuddin; but it is Monty Tiwa, who creates the film’s atmosphere and has done his job well.

Compared to the first two films, Get Married 3 shifts focus from the love shared in a relationship by two people from different economic classes to intra-familial conflicts that surface within an extended family.

Rendy and Mae intend to raise their children without intervention from their parents; something that is hard to do in this country, where it is almost impossible to separate children from their grandparents who, after all, are basically the ones who “force” their offspring to have children in the first place.

The film explores the issue of family seniority — touching upon a situation found in most Indonesian families, where one’s sophistication does not count. Instead, what matters is how old you are: this is the factor which determines the truth of a person’s words.

Those among the older generation are always morally right although they are empirically wrong. It is the moral that matters. Consequently, children are the eternal victims of their parents’ thoughts and traditions.

The plot also relies quite heavily on Mae’s three childhood friends: Beni (Ringgo Agus Rahman) Guntoro (Dedi Mahendra Desta) and Eman (Amink). These three funny hoodlums have been going through riotous times, which don’t seem due to end anytime soon.

Beni, who used to work as an office boy in Rendy’s office, is now a serious gambler. Guntoro, Rendy’s former driver, becomes entangled in a malpractice lawsuit: His colon was mistakenly circumcised and a coin-for-charity move is launched with the help of Beni, who is actually using the money to gamble.

Eman has the most absurd bad luck; he is paid to replace a famous corrupt convict in jail for four days a week because of his facial similarity. In one particularly well-made scene, Eman undergoes interrogation by a guy who looks exactly like Gayus Tambunan, the everlasting “hero” of Indonesian corruption history.

In Get Married 3, Monty Tiwa also pays homage to Indonesia’s early films and characters in his own idiosyncratic way.

Jokingly, he casts Hanung Bramantyo as a blind man walking around in the middle of a chase scene, causing everyone to freeze for a second wondering who the blind man is, until Mae’s mother exclaims: “No worries! He’s just an extra from the movie Ayat-ayat Cinta”. Ayat-ayat Cinta [Verses of Love] was a popular film directed by Hanung Bramantyo.

The scene reminded me of a very funny homage in Aria Kusumadewa’s 2009 film Identitas [Identity], where Adam [played by Tio Pakusadewo], examined a corpse and found his name: “Oh, John De Rantau!” he exclaimed, referring to another Indonesian director who, by the way, is still alive.

Get Married 3 also has a certain amount of political content but, well, you don’t need to worry about that. Monty Tiwa and his characters present a movingly funny movie that will be appreciated by the entire family. That explains it all.

Verdict: Movingly funny, the most sophisticated yet entertaining of all three installments.

 

Get Married 3 (Running time: 95 minutes)

Starring: Nirina Zubir, Fedi Nuril, Amink, Ringgo Agus Rahman, Deddy Mahendra Desta, Jaja Miharja, Meriam Bellina, Ira Wibowo

Director: Monty Tiwa

Screenwriter: Cassandra Massardi, HM Din Syamsuddin

Production House: Starvision

Producers: Fiaz Servia, Reza Servia, Mithu Nisar, DD Putranto, Ika Muliana, Chand Parwez Servia

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