Imelda

Imelda Marcos likes to talk. With a pained expression on his face, a Jesuit priest explains how she once lectured him for hours and then put on a videotape about herself when she got tired. This trait is invaluable in the hands of documentary filmmaker Ramona S. Diaz. As wife of the former Philippine dictator, Mrs. Marcos hardly seems to weigh her words, unwittingly divulging far more than she would probably want to. She does not seem to realise that the untruths she sometimes peddles can easily be refuted by witnesses or archive footage – which happens here in this film. Imelda is the centre of her own universe and feels utterly invulnerable there. The filmmaker introduces opponents, relatives, friends, Imelda’s couturier and American diplomats. In the Philippines, an Imelda myth has arisen. She is clearly not the only one who believes in it. Even an American member of the jury that acquitted her of fraud proudly shows us an autographed picture of her. It is distressing to watch how this undoubtedly gifted woman lives in a make-believe world. She still has the audacity to speak about beauty and art, while her people live in dire poverty. She just closes her eyes to trash and hideousness. Why the Philippines allows Imelda to live in the lap of luxury or elects her son and daughter as state governors remains a mystery. A fascinating mystery.