I saw Krabador (The Bet Collector) at the Toronto International Film Festvial with the affable and somewhat chatty director, Jeffrey Jetrurian sitting next to me. The excellent lead actress joined us for a warm Q&A session.
Jueteng is a game of selecting 2 numbers (say 15, 38) to play in a sort of manual lottery. Almost like selling door-to-door, a bet collector weaves through the local streets on a daily basis finding potential jueteng players, jotting down your 2 numbers on pieces of paper, collecting your money, then feeding it up the chain so that a 'draw' can take place leading to final payout. Then another day or so later, and this rather underground activity repeats.
Who really wants to see a movie about a lottery?
Well, when the lottery has a very human element, of financial struggle, of family friction, of hope, of the loss of a son, and of luck, the movie canvas suddenly comes alive and has an intricacy and depth of story and feeling that pulls you right in! The highly engaging journey of one woman's rough-and-tumble livelihood minute by minute, day by day was captured through and through and left me feeling frustrated for her and for her challenges.
The shots, the music show the ins and outs of one woman's perseverance and strength to make ends meet by becoming an underground bet collector.
What was interesting (I don't realize this until the director mentioned it) was that music only came at certain points in the movie -- linked to a specific recollection. Very nice effect that I didn't even notice, but that was cool!
Check it out -- this movie is original, engaging, and gave me what felt like a very real glimpse into Filipino life.
Great job!
Jueteng is a game of selecting 2 numbers (say 15, 38) to play in a sort of manual lottery. Almost like selling door-to-door, a bet collector weaves through the local streets on a daily basis finding potential jueteng players, jotting down your 2 numbers on pieces of paper, collecting your money, then feeding it up the chain so that a 'draw' can take place leading to final payout. Then another day or so later, and this rather underground activity repeats.
Who really wants to see a movie about a lottery?
Well, when the lottery has a very human element, of financial struggle, of family friction, of hope, of the loss of a son, and of luck, the movie canvas suddenly comes alive and has an intricacy and depth of story and feeling that pulls you right in! The highly engaging journey of one woman's rough-and-tumble livelihood minute by minute, day by day was captured through and through and left me feeling frustrated for her and for her challenges.
The shots, the music show the ins and outs of one woman's perseverance and strength to make ends meet by becoming an underground bet collector.
What was interesting (I don't realize this until the director mentioned it) was that music only came at certain points in the movie -- linked to a specific recollection. Very nice effect that I didn't even notice, but that was cool!
Check it out -- this movie is original, engaging, and gave me what felt like a very real glimpse into Filipino life.
Great job!