THE KINGMAKER

Until 1986, Imelda reaped the rewards of her husband Ferdinand's two-decade rule over the
Philippines. Now that she's back from exile, the disgraced former first lady is determined to reclaim the
country's wealth for her son, Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. "Perception is real, but the truth is not,"
Imelda says in The Kingmaker, a stunning documentary by Lauren Greenfield.

Lauren Greenfield's documentary "The Kingmaker" not only shows the loot and the shoes but
also investigates the horrific prices of that affluence. It's a bleak story told with wit and a better grasp of
history. Since her husband, Ferdinand, was toppled in the People Power Revolution, far too many
journalists have approached her to gawk and dish. Greenfield, a fine-art photographer, turned
filmmaker, has other ideas.

However, such fatal connotations creep up on viewers in a film that begins innocently enough as
the latest of Greenfield's astonishing representations of wealth gone amok. So, for example, recent
Filipino elections look eerily similar to the strange 2016 US presidential race, which pitted an ex-first lady
against a nationalist oligarch. While she portrays herself as a lovely grandma, Greenfield believes the
truth (there's that word again) is much more complex.

"How's my tummy?" Greenfield and editor Per K. Kirkegaard begin the film with Imelda getting
her cosmetics done. "Does it appear big?" she wonders before one of her reshaping and controlling her
narrative dialogues. Greenfield goes above and beyond by interviewing political opponents and
providing the historical context the Marcos clan is actively attempting to rewrite — effects seen in
elementary schools, where Ferdinand Marcos' nearly decade-long period of martial law is now being
recast as a happier time than it actually was.

It has worsened since Imelda's family seized control. "There were no beggars before," she
claims, glad to be videotaped giving cash to street kids and cancer patients. But whence did she get the
personal money she now shares? How far does such generosity go? However, while many of their assets
have been taken by the Presidential Commission on Good Government (formed by Marcos' successor
Corazon Aquino), they have stored several expensive works of art that may be auctioned anytime they
need extra income.

The surreal video reminds viewers that Imelda Trinidad Romualdez was whisked into this world
after entering the Miss Manila beauty competition and drawing the attention of young politician
Ferdinand Marcos. They married after an 11-day courtship, and while Imelda was vital to his political
rise, the pressure nearly broke down.

Imelda opens out about this time in her life and how she came to accept her role as the
country's most recognized lady — a trophy wife whom Ferdinand toured the world with while cheating
on her at home. Greenfield follows up on several of Imelda's pet projects, including the so-called Bridge
of Love and a fantasy wild-animal refuge predicated on the evacuation of the human population from
Calauit Island. Imelda met several world leaders during her reign, including Chairman Mao and Saddam
Hussein, whom she reportedly asked, "What's your problem?"

If communication was that simple, the route to power appears simple, perhaps even frightening.
After a few years in exile, the Marcoses decided it was safe to return, eventually resettling the dictator's
body. With her big hair and exquisite dresses (we never see her shoes), Imelda may play the sweet
Marcos grandmother or the cruel "Narcos" godmother who runs the show behind the scenes.

To elect her son Bongbong as vice president, Greenfield joins Marcos on the campaign trail. In
this final episode, a desperate country appears to be buying the Marcoses' phony narrative. A slew of
grisly street shootings captured by local still photographers and Greenfield's cameras shows Duterte's
already horrific legacy of resurrecting them.

"Perception is real, and the reality is not," suggests Marcos is a prodigy in denial and image
distortion to the point where she appears to believe her own lies. The "facts" of corruption and avarice
are unimportant compared to the image she conveys to her people. Her "perception" is significantly
more critical than anything deemed true. The Kingmaker's apparent skill in altering history is frightening.
Image control was crucial in getting the Philippines to its current position under Duterte. The Marcos
legacy is far from over, but "The Kingmaker" is a vital chapter in both.

As Greenfield's "The Kingmaker" unfolds, the Philippines' past and present merge, making the
picture both intriguing and terrifying. A single woman and her perverse attractions and oddities become
less critical than imperial authority. Despite this, there are times in "The Kingmaker" when you wish
Greenfield had gone deeper into American involvement in the Philippines. In response to his remark,
she interviews an old acquaintance of the Marcoses who chuckles about American support for despotic
regimes. Finally, "The Kingmaker" lets the viewer dispel Imelda's own myths. The film's message
concerning political dynasties, which audiences in America have seen with the Kennedys, Bushes,
Clintons, and now the Trumps, cannot be ignored. Good intentions might be undermined by ambitious
wives and oblivious sons seeking to reclaim power. Lauren Greenfield's film reminds us why we fought
the tyranny as teenagers. We lost, and the Marcoses returned. It's time for the next generation to lead.