My thoughts about Lola (Grandmother) and Kubrador (The Bet Collector)

Lola (Grandmother) is a heartbreaking movie produced by Brillante Mendoza. The film teaches how to love unconditionally and how to protect that love ferociously. The story is about two grandmothers who live in different sufferings because of the fate of their grandsons but share the same journey about the harsh reality of poverty.

Lola Sepa has lost his grandson because he was stabbed by Lola Puring’s grandson. These two grandmothers suffer from the consequences that happened to their loved ones but both of them are trying their best to overcome the aftermath of the incident. We can see in the movie that even though they are decrepit, they still work hard to prove their love for their grandsons. Lola Sepa’s journey shows her eagerness to give his grandson a proper burial while Lola Puring endeavors to earn Lola Sepa’s approval to free her grandson from jail.

The rain in this movie is very symbolic. It represents the obstacles in meeting the two grandmothers' goal and symbolizes the emotion of each character — sorrow and fury. The cinema verité style is effective in following the characters’ journey. You really need to observe what’s happening to each characters' life.

Both lives show the harsh reality of injustice, criminality, and poverty that push them to do very heartbreaking things to watch. But as the story progresses, I realize how these two characters strive hard for the sake of their loved ones despite being old and weak, and broke. This film is a picture of an unconditional love that exists in the midst of a slum area.

Jeffrey Jeturian’s film entitled Kubrador (The Bet Collector) entails the journey of Amy whose life was based on luck. Compared to Lola, for me, it is more hopeless and devastating. All of the scenes are full of coincidence and chaos. But what I like about this film is that it portrays the daily life of a Kubrador trying to do her best in surviving the metropolis by using her instinct and luck. I can’t deny the fact that the film has no clear plot for the main character’s journey. As a viewer, you will also just wait and see what will happen to the character. Like in real life, there are people who have no specific goal in their lives, they only go with the flow. What we should learn in this film is that one will never attain the happiness that they want if they will only base it on luck.