Kubrador

Shot in the slums of the Phillipines, this film provides a privileged and intriguing glimpse into Filipino culture. This is director Jefferey Jeuturian's 7th film, in which we follow the life of May, a "Kubrador" or bet collector- more appropriately a bookie. A bookie for the underground and illegal game of Jeuteung.

Jeuteung is a game where the player bets on 2 numbers which are drawn in a bingo or lottery fashion. The Jeuteung racket is run hierarchically with the bookies working the bottom- followed by the treasurers, local managers and "the boss" whom is never seen. The bookies use analogies for the numbers...for instance, a bet of 26, 5 would be a thief and a child (i made this one up...but i didn't get the logic behind them anyways lol)

May is a street savvy hustler who roams the alleys of the Manilan slums collecting bets, and death donations, from local convenors and well....anyone she can convince to give her money, as she trolls around sucking down cigarettes and bottles of mineral water like a fiend. She lives with her husband, who runs a store from their home, while being addicted to television game shows. May is in close contact with her pregnant daughter and grandchild- though she seems to resent her leeching- as well as her son, who is trying to make ends meet by selling local and national newspapers and tabloids. We are also shown she had another son who has died, though whose spirit is constantly watching over his mother (listen for the music........).

May is, to describe her character bluntly, a physically ill and emotionally disturbed greedy bitch. Her physical deterioration is a direct result of her constant smoking- an action which the director seems to condemn. Her emotional distress and attitude though, can be traced back to the affect that the death of her son had on her subconscious. The fact that death seems to follow her- always in her face- is a constant reminder of what she has lost, putting her into a deeper, more fragile, emotional state, and making her a far less tolerant person.

One learns much about everyday life in the Phillipines from the portrayal of Filipino culture in this film. If the actors weren't so mediocre, one could, at first, mistake the film as a documentary. Every shot in the film is hand-held and all sounds are diegetic (except for the instance(s) previously mentioned...). The director really succeeds in allowing us to enter and experience May's world with the realistic feel of the film.

I don't want to give away too many of the plot details, you should see the movie for yourself....it's not only emotionally engrossing, but exciting too! There is a wicked foot-chase scene through the alleyways and across the rooftops of the slums....where else you gonna see that!! Watch it, you'll enjoy it.

We Filipinos are ashamed of our contemporary national cinema and love to complain about how horrible it is. "It hasn't been the same since the grand old days of Lino Brocka, Ishmael Bernal, and co.," we say. (These 'grand old days' were in the 70's and 80's.) Then we turn around and watch "Chuck and Larry", seriously consider Ashton Kutcher a good actor, and think the world of bubblegum-pop-singer-turned-actress Mandy Moore.

Bear with my bitter(sweet) grumbling. It's just quite frustrating. If a great Filipino film is made but nobody watches it, does it still exist?

Jeffrey Jeturian's "Kubrador" is a landmark film that a lot of Filipinos have probably heard of but few have seen. It garnered a lot of press from traveling the international film festival circuit, albeit not the major ones, and winning some awards both locally and internationally. In fact, it is one of the most-publicized non-commercial films in recent memory, second only to Auraeus Solito's much-beloved "Ang Pagdadalaga ni Maximo Oliveros". Both films, in my opinion, are cornerstones in contemporary Philippine cinema.

While there have been attempts to resuscitate the industry, only a handful have made significant marks. Names like Crisaldo Pablo, Mel Chionglo, Jose Javier Reyes, Michiko Yamamoto, and Lav Diaz and titles like "Dekada 70", "Muro-Ami", "Babae sa Bubungang Lata", Jeturian's own "Pila-Balde", "Jologs", "Panaghoy sa Suba", "Bagong Buwan", and "Batang West Side" come to mind. It really wasn't until 2005's "Maximo" though when things started to get really interesting. For me "Maximo" signaled the possibility that there could be more to this cinema than Brocka and Bernal. "Kubrador" assured me that "Maximo" wasn't just a fluke.

Veteran actress Gina Parreno defines "Kubrador" and I'm not just referring to the fact that she is the titular 'kubrador' here, the bet collector. It's impossible to imagine this film without her. With the histrionics school of acting deeply entrenched in the industry, Parreno defies with a very low-key performance. Tough, caring, emotional yet too busy with life to stop and cry, sociable yet occasionally abrasive, annoyingly stubborn and bossy at times, she plays the typical matriarch, Amy (ah-mee--the Filipino pronunciation). She is endearing because she is real. Jeturian expertly weaves her story amidst the maze of slums. Or is it the other way around? The story of the slums intertwined with hers? Cinema verite style, we follow her as she plies her route as her neighborhood's 'jueteng' (an illegal numbers game favored by the poor) collector. It is the view into another world here that gives "Kubrador" most of its magic. The ordinary is the extraordinary.

The acting is superb and amazingly realistic as to be almost documentary-like, from the leads right down to the extras, with a negligible slip-up or two (which, ironically, includes Johnny Manahan, an occasional actor and one of the main players in ABS-CBN/Star Cinema, one of the 2 biggest film studios in the country). For me, some of the scenes are already instant classics: the apo's (grandchild) 'concert', the funeral, and the last few minutes of the film.

"Kubrador" may be too quiet or too depressing, too poor, too ugly, for some, but exactly why it should be watched by all, Filipinos especially, even if--especially since--this is the farthest thing Ashton Kutcher and Mandy Moore would star in.

The last great movie I saw was In the Mood For Love, a masterpiece directed by Wong Kar Wai. I can remember the goosebumps and that feeling of joy when I saw that movie's ending. I guess I feel that way whenever I had a great cinematic experience. With Kubrador (The Bet Collector), that feeling came back again. My eyes teared up during the ending sequence and that feeling came back, it was a great experience.

There are so many junk movies being created in the Philippines so avoid them as much as I can but thank God for this one and thank God for those who worked hard on this film to make it as a film worthy of its praise in various film festivals around the world. Kubrador deserves it.

There is a cinematic revolution happening in the Philippines, the ones who will make films not for mindless entertainment but for personal expressions they wish to share to the people willing to see them, like art.

Thanks Jeffrey Jeturian for directing the movie.