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Imelda (film)

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Imelda
Directed byRamona S. Diaz
Starring
Production
company
CineDiaz
Release date
  • November 23, 2003 (2003-11-23) (Amsterdam)
CountryPhilippines
LanguagesTagalog, Filipino, English
Box office$200,992 (US)

Imelda is a 2003 documentary film about Imelda Marcos, former First Lady of the Philippines, directed by Ramona S. Diaz. Reviews were largely favourable and it won the Excellence in Cinematography Award Documentary award at Sundance in 2004. The film outsold Spiderman 2 in the Philippines, but only took $200,000 at the US box office. It holds very favorable reviews from critics with a 94% fresh rating from Rotten Tomatoes and a 69% favorable review from Metacritic.

Synopsis

Diaz followed former First Lady Imelda Marcos for a month and also interviewed her daughter Imee and her son Ferdinand, Jr.[1] The film, which incorporates third party interviews and archive material, recounts Imelda's life, including her whirlwind romance and marriage to her husband, Philippine president Ferdinand Marcos.[2] In discussing the Marcos presidency, Imelda asserts that there were no human rights abuses in her country;[2] she says that the reason her husband abolished Congress and declared martial law in 1972 was to protect democracy.[1] She is frank that 3,000 pairs of shoes went with her into exile, and justifies her extravagant clothing by claiming that it "inspired the poor to dress better".[1] She also says that she had enormous museums and theaters constructed to enrich the lives of Filipinos.[1]

Imelda claims in one vignette that she had met Douglas MacArthur during his landing in Tacloban at the end of World War II, and that McArthur insisted that she should perform for the composer Irving Berlin,[3] who had composed the Philippine national anthem not long previously.[4] She sang "God Bless the Philippines"; and when asked by Berlin why she got the lyrics wrong, she said, "what's the difference between America and the Philippines?"[3] The assassination attempt on Imelda and the assassination of Benigno Aquino, Jr. are featured in the film.[5] Footage from parties held by the Marcos couple also appear, including one held in a yacht where actor George Hamilton sang "I can't give you anything but love, Imelda."[3]

Release and reception

Imelda in 2006.

The film had its world premiere at the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam, and had its North American premiere in the documentary competition of the 2004 Sundance Film Festival,[6] where it won the Excellence in Cinematography Award Documentary.[6] The film was also screened within Maryland Film Festival in Baltimore, where Diaz resides.[6]

Critical reviews are mostly favorable.[7][8][9][10] The film holds a 94% fresh rating from Rotten Tomatoes and a 69% favorable review from Metacritic.[11][12] The website Film Threat commends the film's treatment of the subject's flaws because it "allows her to describe them herself";[1] TV Guide acknowledges Marcos as "an entertaining storyteller".[13] The New York Times describes the film as "a devastating portrait" and equates the theme of Imelda with that of delusion and power.[14] San Francisco Chronicle said the film was "spellbinding".[3] Both the Chronicle and Variety consider the film balanced and even-handed.[3][4] Variety suggests that Marcos, someone who has been accustomed to living under the spotlight since her teens, was convinced that her own charm and charisma would create a more favorable impression in the film than might otherwise be expected. It remarks that "her defenses of her husband and his regime are obviously filled with rationalizations and obfuscations".[4] Other reviewers are more scathing,[1] or note with irony her distorted reality and the many contradictions with which she lives.[3][4]

The film took only $200,992 at the box office in the United States.[15] In the Philippines, Marcos obtained a temporary injunction that prevented its showing for a brief time. When the film was released after the injunction was canceled, it earned more than Spiderman 2, and was considered a smash hit.[2]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Imelda. Film Threat.
  2. ^ a b c "A walk in the shoes of Imelda Marcos". The Boston Globe. August 6, 2004.
  3. ^ a b c d e f FILM CLIPS / Also opening today. San Francisco Chronicle. June 11, 2004.
  4. ^ a b c d Review: ‘Imelda’. Variety. March 17, 2004.
  5. ^ 'Imelda': Don't Cry for Her. The Washington Post. July 16, 2004.
  6. ^ a b c Imelda. Internet Movie Database.
  7. ^ Walk in her shoes. Canoe.ca. December 1, 2004.
  8. ^ Imelda. Deseret News. December 2, 2004.
  9. ^ Short Reviews: Imelda. The Phoenix. August 6–12, 2004.
  10. ^ Movie guide. Christian Science Monitor. June 18, 2004.
  11. ^ Imelda. Rotten Tomatoes.
  12. ^ Imelda. Metacritic.
  13. ^ Imelda. '.TV Guide.
  14. ^ For a Regal Pariah, Despite It All, the Shoe Is Never on the Other Foot. The New York Times. June 9, 2004.
  15. ^ Imelda. Box Office Mojo.
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