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.