Taxibol (2023) Movie Script
How long have you
been driving this taxi for?
How long?
It's been...
It's been 15 years since
I started doing this job.
Wow, that's a long time.
This job gave me the
opportunity to learn about
the culture of different countries,
since I drive passengers
from all over the world.
It's a bit like...
It's as if I traveled the world myself.
Because...
They tell me about
life in their countries.
And in general,
about culture, traditions, and anything
else that has to do with their countries.
So this is an interesting job
because you always learn something
and interact with people.
Plus, they're usually educated people.
For this reason, this job is...
an enriching type of job.
- And what brings you here in Cuba?
- You don't know?
To make cinema.
Cinema is very important now.
The 21st century...
is about engagement, Gustavo.
We need to push everything
towards perfecting humanity.
Helping humanity to get better.
Humanity is now in an abyss of...
you know, maladies, turmoils.
There are flashpoints everywhere,
wars, terrorism
so many despots and dictators,
and populist leaders are now...
heading a lot of countries,
and it's terrible for humanity.
So, we should move, in our own
small ways to fight these things.
And cinema is part of that,
of this cultural movement to fight all
these problems of the world right now.
It's more at the forefront
of these cultural movements.
Not art for art's sake,
fuck art for art's sake.
It's amazing how...
despite the language barrier...
because you've been with me...
we moved around this town and the
University and we've been going to Havana.
We've learned to understand each
other despite the language barrier.
I cannot speak Spanish. I have an
understanding, little, of the language.
But, I can understand you well,
it's more how you...
your demeanor, when you speak,
the tone and I know, I can understand.
Yeah, I'm familiar with you
and you are familiar with me...
That's the reason why
we understand each other.
So sometimes familiarity
destroys these borders about language.
The Tower of Babel is destroyed
by familiarity and relationships.
Like the two of us, we've been together,
But you know... there's a lot of...
so called fractures
in the way we see life
and in our relationships
with other people.
Often times you think...
you're deeply in love with a person
Then you wake up one day
and she's gone.
Yes.
That happened to me as well.
For example in my case,
I was recently in a relationship
with a woman, and it was going well,
but she...
she had to leave because her
son and grandson lived abroad.
And so...
our relationship was over.
And you get hurt, emotionally.
Because you start
getting attached to a
person, and all of a sudden...
everything falls apart.
This is what's happening
to many Cuban families and couples
that break up for this reason.
Although things go well,
the relationship goes well...
the couple is forced to
break up because one of them
has to...
leave the country
for multiple reasons.
That happened to me as well.
I will tell you the story.
I was able to bring my family in America.
After working with a Filipino newspaper,
I'm a journalist, then.
A Filipino newspaper in New York,
they invited me to stay
so I was able to get my family.
But, once I was able to get my family to
New York, I started doing cinema again.
I kept going back to the
Philippines to make cinema.
And one day, when I
went back to New York...
We were having breakfast,
me and my wife.
And after serving me good, good...
coffee, a donut and an egg,
she pulled an envelope
and put it in front of me.
And, she gave me a ball pen,
and she said: "Sign this."
I thought it was just
another contract, or some bills or what...
When I read it, it is divorce papers.
She said: "Sign it. You love your
cinema so much, then go do cinema."
We have divorced.
It was that simple.
The separation was simple.
No bloody fights, no
shouting or screaming.
You know, we were just having
good coffee in the morning.
Very fresh, in a way.
What's the name of your lost love?
Your ex-girlfriend,
what's her name?
Elvis, like...
like Elvis Presley.
Elvis is her name?
Wow... Elvis.
What a name for a woman, Elvis.
You were together for how long?
How long were you together?
- Two years.
- Two years?
And she left? She left already?
Where did she go? To the US?
Lehigh.
Lehigh, Florida
Ah, Florida, wow
Do you still communicate?
Writing?
- No more, by cellphone?
- No, nothing
Stopped.
So do you still love her?
Yes, but she doesn't...
she doesn't love me.
She has no time for
me now, because...
she only cares about things,
what she now wants are things
material things, cars...
a house with swimming pool,
branded clothes...
now she has no time to think about me.
That's sad,
that's very sad, Gustavo.
I only have...
But it's good that you
can laugh about it, no?
- I only have old and ugly stuff.
- I like that you can laugh about it.
But it must have been
very hard when she left.
Yes.
It was hard.
But I'm already...
I'm already recovering.
Did you cry?
You cried?
No.
- No I don't cry.
- You're a macho.
You know, it's good to cry,
to release your emotions.
I say, as Chaplin said...
I say "I like walking under the
rain so nobody sees me crying."
Wow, that's fantastic.
The rain.
So, Gustavo...
We've known each other...
I've gained your trust, and you trust me.
Right?
- Do you trust me?
- Yes, sure.
- I trust you.
- And I trust you.
Gustavo, I trust you a lot.
You're holding my life here. We travel
and you're holding, my life.
So, the foundation
of this trust is this car.
This rotten old car,
that is about to dissipate,
to disintegrate, but
it's still intact.
This is the foundation of our friendship.
It starts from this car.
I have to tell you something, Gustavo.
This is the truth.
I'm on a mission.
This mission is a commitment
to my people, to the Filipino people.
I'm looking for a man, here.
His name is Juan Mijares Cruz.
I need your help.
All right, you want me to help
you find Juan Mijares Cruz.
Yeah, Gustavo, I want you to help
me find General Juan Mijares Cruz.
And I will tell you why.
This man is a former general
of the dictator Ferdinand Marcos.
Ferdinand Marcos...
imposed martial law in
the Philippines in 1972.
And...
He put...
the Philippines under martial
law for 17, 18 years.
It was a brutal period in our history,
the most brutal period in our history.
Thousands of people disappeared, thousands
of activists were tortured and killed,
you know, murdered.
Not just that.
According to research...
he plundered the country of
20, 30 billion dollars.
30 billions.
And the money,
they put it in Swiss banks,
in Bahamas and Singapore banks.
In Swiss banks,
in the Bahamas and Singapore?
Yes, yes.
And General Juan Mijares is one of them,
one of the generals of Marcos.
He's responsible for the tortures,
you know, the murders.
The murder of thousands
of Filipino youth.
According to reports,
according to research, he's living here,
around the vicinity of San Antonio.
And he's hiding under a Cuban identity.
They said he has some business
here now in some plantation.
Maybe a banana plantation
or a cassava plantation.
He's living around here.
We need to find him, Gustavo, help me.
Ok, I will help you look for
Juan Mijares Cruz and find him.
I will give you a photo of him.
A photograph. A portrait.
A photograph of him,
of when he left the Philippines
and maybe what he looks like now.
He is mestizo, a mestizo.
So he can really look
like a Cuban or a Spanish.
His blood is a mix
between Malay and Spanish.
A mestizo, a Creole.
One way that I'm doing here,
to flush him out,
of this, uh, new "persona"...
is to create a sort of
documentary about him.
- So you will make a film to expose him.
- Yeah.
Somebody, like a filmmaker
is looking for a Filipino here.
Supposedly a general, also of Marcos.
And then this kind of documentary that
this filmmaker is doing is very overt.
It's open.
Maybe, what I'm trying to do
this to call the attention of this guy.
For him to come out.
I don't know if it's gonna happen.
But I'm going to stay
here until I see him.
And when I see him, Gustavo...
Do you know what's gonna happen?
You know what will I do?
Look at me Gustavo.
Do you know what I will do?
- I will shoot him in the head.
- OK.
Smash his head, out.
And I'll eat his brain.
I'll eat his brain.
That is a ritual that I will do.
For my Filipino people,
for my people, I will eat his brain.
You will be a hero of the
Filipino people if you help me,
find this monster.
He is a monster.
Yeah, we have to find him.
We have to find him, wherever he may be.
TAXIBOL
been driving this taxi for?
How long?
It's been...
It's been 15 years since
I started doing this job.
Wow, that's a long time.
This job gave me the
opportunity to learn about
the culture of different countries,
since I drive passengers
from all over the world.
It's a bit like...
It's as if I traveled the world myself.
Because...
They tell me about
life in their countries.
And in general,
about culture, traditions, and anything
else that has to do with their countries.
So this is an interesting job
because you always learn something
and interact with people.
Plus, they're usually educated people.
For this reason, this job is...
an enriching type of job.
- And what brings you here in Cuba?
- You don't know?
To make cinema.
Cinema is very important now.
The 21st century...
is about engagement, Gustavo.
We need to push everything
towards perfecting humanity.
Helping humanity to get better.
Humanity is now in an abyss of...
you know, maladies, turmoils.
There are flashpoints everywhere,
wars, terrorism
so many despots and dictators,
and populist leaders are now...
heading a lot of countries,
and it's terrible for humanity.
So, we should move, in our own
small ways to fight these things.
And cinema is part of that,
of this cultural movement to fight all
these problems of the world right now.
It's more at the forefront
of these cultural movements.
Not art for art's sake,
fuck art for art's sake.
It's amazing how...
despite the language barrier...
because you've been with me...
we moved around this town and the
University and we've been going to Havana.
We've learned to understand each
other despite the language barrier.
I cannot speak Spanish. I have an
understanding, little, of the language.
But, I can understand you well,
it's more how you...
your demeanor, when you speak,
the tone and I know, I can understand.
Yeah, I'm familiar with you
and you are familiar with me...
That's the reason why
we understand each other.
So sometimes familiarity
destroys these borders about language.
The Tower of Babel is destroyed
by familiarity and relationships.
Like the two of us, we've been together,
But you know... there's a lot of...
so called fractures
in the way we see life
and in our relationships
with other people.
Often times you think...
you're deeply in love with a person
Then you wake up one day
and she's gone.
Yes.
That happened to me as well.
For example in my case,
I was recently in a relationship
with a woman, and it was going well,
but she...
she had to leave because her
son and grandson lived abroad.
And so...
our relationship was over.
And you get hurt, emotionally.
Because you start
getting attached to a
person, and all of a sudden...
everything falls apart.
This is what's happening
to many Cuban families and couples
that break up for this reason.
Although things go well,
the relationship goes well...
the couple is forced to
break up because one of them
has to...
leave the country
for multiple reasons.
That happened to me as well.
I will tell you the story.
I was able to bring my family in America.
After working with a Filipino newspaper,
I'm a journalist, then.
A Filipino newspaper in New York,
they invited me to stay
so I was able to get my family.
But, once I was able to get my family to
New York, I started doing cinema again.
I kept going back to the
Philippines to make cinema.
And one day, when I
went back to New York...
We were having breakfast,
me and my wife.
And after serving me good, good...
coffee, a donut and an egg,
she pulled an envelope
and put it in front of me.
And, she gave me a ball pen,
and she said: "Sign this."
I thought it was just
another contract, or some bills or what...
When I read it, it is divorce papers.
She said: "Sign it. You love your
cinema so much, then go do cinema."
We have divorced.
It was that simple.
The separation was simple.
No bloody fights, no
shouting or screaming.
You know, we were just having
good coffee in the morning.
Very fresh, in a way.
What's the name of your lost love?
Your ex-girlfriend,
what's her name?
Elvis, like...
like Elvis Presley.
Elvis is her name?
Wow... Elvis.
What a name for a woman, Elvis.
You were together for how long?
How long were you together?
- Two years.
- Two years?
And she left? She left already?
Where did she go? To the US?
Lehigh.
Lehigh, Florida
Ah, Florida, wow
Do you still communicate?
Writing?
- No more, by cellphone?
- No, nothing
Stopped.
So do you still love her?
Yes, but she doesn't...
she doesn't love me.
She has no time for
me now, because...
she only cares about things,
what she now wants are things
material things, cars...
a house with swimming pool,
branded clothes...
now she has no time to think about me.
That's sad,
that's very sad, Gustavo.
I only have...
But it's good that you
can laugh about it, no?
- I only have old and ugly stuff.
- I like that you can laugh about it.
But it must have been
very hard when she left.
Yes.
It was hard.
But I'm already...
I'm already recovering.
Did you cry?
You cried?
No.
- No I don't cry.
- You're a macho.
You know, it's good to cry,
to release your emotions.
I say, as Chaplin said...
I say "I like walking under the
rain so nobody sees me crying."
Wow, that's fantastic.
The rain.
So, Gustavo...
We've known each other...
I've gained your trust, and you trust me.
Right?
- Do you trust me?
- Yes, sure.
- I trust you.
- And I trust you.
Gustavo, I trust you a lot.
You're holding my life here. We travel
and you're holding, my life.
So, the foundation
of this trust is this car.
This rotten old car,
that is about to dissipate,
to disintegrate, but
it's still intact.
This is the foundation of our friendship.
It starts from this car.
I have to tell you something, Gustavo.
This is the truth.
I'm on a mission.
This mission is a commitment
to my people, to the Filipino people.
I'm looking for a man, here.
His name is Juan Mijares Cruz.
I need your help.
All right, you want me to help
you find Juan Mijares Cruz.
Yeah, Gustavo, I want you to help
me find General Juan Mijares Cruz.
And I will tell you why.
This man is a former general
of the dictator Ferdinand Marcos.
Ferdinand Marcos...
imposed martial law in
the Philippines in 1972.
And...
He put...
the Philippines under martial
law for 17, 18 years.
It was a brutal period in our history,
the most brutal period in our history.
Thousands of people disappeared, thousands
of activists were tortured and killed,
you know, murdered.
Not just that.
According to research...
he plundered the country of
20, 30 billion dollars.
30 billions.
And the money,
they put it in Swiss banks,
in Bahamas and Singapore banks.
In Swiss banks,
in the Bahamas and Singapore?
Yes, yes.
And General Juan Mijares is one of them,
one of the generals of Marcos.
He's responsible for the tortures,
you know, the murders.
The murder of thousands
of Filipino youth.
According to reports,
according to research, he's living here,
around the vicinity of San Antonio.
And he's hiding under a Cuban identity.
They said he has some business
here now in some plantation.
Maybe a banana plantation
or a cassava plantation.
He's living around here.
We need to find him, Gustavo, help me.
Ok, I will help you look for
Juan Mijares Cruz and find him.
I will give you a photo of him.
A photograph. A portrait.
A photograph of him,
of when he left the Philippines
and maybe what he looks like now.
He is mestizo, a mestizo.
So he can really look
like a Cuban or a Spanish.
His blood is a mix
between Malay and Spanish.
A mestizo, a Creole.
One way that I'm doing here,
to flush him out,
of this, uh, new "persona"...
is to create a sort of
documentary about him.
- So you will make a film to expose him.
- Yeah.
Somebody, like a filmmaker
is looking for a Filipino here.
Supposedly a general, also of Marcos.
And then this kind of documentary that
this filmmaker is doing is very overt.
It's open.
Maybe, what I'm trying to do
this to call the attention of this guy.
For him to come out.
I don't know if it's gonna happen.
But I'm going to stay
here until I see him.
And when I see him, Gustavo...
Do you know what's gonna happen?
You know what will I do?
Look at me Gustavo.
Do you know what I will do?
- I will shoot him in the head.
- OK.
Smash his head, out.
And I'll eat his brain.
I'll eat his brain.
That is a ritual that I will do.
For my Filipino people,
for my people, I will eat his brain.
You will be a hero of the
Filipino people if you help me,
find this monster.
He is a monster.
Yeah, we have to find him.
We have to find him, wherever he may be.
TAXIBOL