Danny Chan

A documentary film on the life of Imelda Marcos premiered in Manila, despite weeks of legal wrangling by Mrs Marcos to have the movie banned. The premiere follows a court ruling to allow the screening of the unauthorized biopic.

"Imelda", a 103-minute film recounting her role in her husband's 22-year regime, made its Philippine debut on July 21 despite legal efforts by Mrs Marcos to block its release.

"I am looking like an airhead, like a frivolous, wanton, extravagant woman at the expense of the poor," Mrs Marcos said. "I am made to look like a cheap flirt, flirting with all the men of the world." The wife of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos argued that Ramona Diaz, the American filmmaker, obtained her consent for the documentary under false pretenses.

"We have to stick to the truth because truth is God," Mrs Marcos said. "This is the problem today, just because you are a public figure, they have the freedom to make a story."

"Many things were lifted out of context and insertions there were quite, sometime malicious," she added.

Ms Diaz said the film, winner for best cinematography at the Sundance film festival, accurately portrays Mrs Marcos's life and that Filipinos are entitled to view it. She refuted allegations that subterfuge was used to obtain Mrs Marcos's participation, and said she strived to go beyond the "3,000 pairs of shoes" stereotype.

"We had many conversations. There were scenes in the film that were her idea and I thought they were great ideas, so we did it." Ms Diaz said. "If you see the film, she is 80 per cent of it. So this comes as a surprise to me that she filed the complaint." The film avoids such topics as how much money the Marcoses allegedly embezzled or how Mrs Marcos has managed to avoid serving any prison time despite the dozens of criminal suits filed against her.

The movie instead delves into how Mrs Marcos, a former beauty queen who married Ferdinand Marcos 11 days after meeting him, thought it was her duty to lead a life of luxury. The film's highlights include footage of the thousands of shoes she owns; an incident in which the first lady was nearly stabbed at a political rally but showed greater concern about the knife being ugly and poor than about her own safety; and how she rewarded a juror who acquitted her of graft charges by sending him a portrait and inviting him to several parties.

Joan Cruz, a marketing officer for the film's Manila distributor, said the movie is balanced with interviews from Mrs Marcos's critics and close supporters.

Mrs Marcos had earlier won a temporary 20-day injunction against a scheduled screening for journalists and against its wider release on July 7, tearfully arguing that it depicted her in a bad light. She successfully petitioned the Makati Regional Trial Court in Manila to ban "Imelda" after the filmmaker had obtained her cooperation for the picture on the basis that the material was intended solely for her master's thesis at Stanford University.

Vic Alvaro, Mrs Marcos's attorney, said the former first lady thought the documentary was full of "malice, inaccuracies and innuendoes". He added that his client never authorized a commercial movie.

"To allow the initial showing would necessary elicit comments which could be unfavorable ... (and) which would probably work injustice to the petitioner," Judge Maria Cristina Cornejo stated in her ruling against the screening.

The Marcoses were toppled in the 1986 "people power" revolution that ended their dictatorship. Ferdinand Marcos died in exile in Hawaii three years later. Corazon Aquino, Marcos's successor as president, accused him of looting billions from public coffers and subsequently seized many of his assets. Estimates of the couple's plundered loot range from $5-10 billion. Hundreds of corruption charges have also been filed against the Marcoses.

Musical on Imelda to open next March

Following the success of the documentary film Imelda, a musical based on the life of the former Philippine first lady is due to hit American stages next May. East West Players, among the oldest and most influential Asian-American theatre companies in the United States, has announced plans to stage a musical based on the life of Imelda Marcos.

Tim Dang, the East West Players' artistic director and the play's director, said Imelda will span the "time when she ran for Miss Manila to when she and Marcos were flown to Hawaii." He told the Inquirer that the musical "will have the tone of 'Evita' with more light and funny parts. It will be reality-based but theatre can bring a magical and surreal touch that film or TV cannot present. I look forward to exploring that magical part of the musical."

Imelda, scheduled to premiere in Los Angeles, is expected to have a cast of 12, with eight cast members portraying several roles though the protagonist has yet to be cast.

"We will have open auditions for all parts sometimes in January," Mr Dang said. He added that the musical's leading characters, aside from Mrs Marcos, include Ferdinand Marcos, Benigno Aquino and Corazon Aquino. Three muses who serve as Mrs Marcos's conscience are also expected to be cast.

Mr Dang further stated that the musical should capitalize on the recent success of Ramona Diaz's eponymous documentary film.

"We have all seen the documentary, which is absolutely wonderful filmmaking. I hope that we will inspire audiences who see the documentary to see the musical for a magical musical journey, and that those who see the musical will see the documentary for a realistic or educational journey, " he said.

Sachi Oyama, the author of the book from which the musical is based, added, "It will be similar in that we are tracing Imelda's life from the time she was a young girl to the moments she achieved fame and fell into disgrace. It will be dissimilar in that we highlight certain moments and 'musicalize' them, whereas the documentary takes a historic look at the events of her life and punctuates them with interviews.

"The main difference, however, is that we take the broad events of her life and then take license with them, fictionalizing events so that they are entertaining and make sense within the dramatic form we've chosen.

"What I hope that the audiences will feel is that Imelda was treated as well as she could be and that while she will always be a villain to some and a hero to others, we did not go out of our way to paint a portrait of her as either, that ultimately the decision is always the audience's to make."

Mr Dang said his inspiration for the musical developed over 10 years. But after 'Miss Saigon' ended its run, he noted, a plethora of talented Filipino actors and actresses on the Los Angeles theatre scene suddenly became available.

"The mystique that is Imelda grew stronger especially when she returned to the Philippines and we heard less and less of her in the States. But the actual manifestation of the work didn't happen until a collaboration with the Academy of New Musical Theatre encouraged us to write and produce it since new hit musicals have been very sparse in the last few years, especially Asian Pacific ones. So why not try our hand in it?" he said.

Mr Oyama added, "The main source of information was books. Among them, I would say the book by Carmen Navarro Pedrosa called The Untold Story of Imelda Marcos was the most significant. It seemed to get the soul of the woman more than the others. Imelda is colorful and will always be controversial but I must credit the Pedrosa book with getting me truly interested in her life.

"I also read books about the Marcos regime and several on the Aquinos. In addition to the Ramona Diaz documentary, I saw another documentary about Imelda put out by A&E. There was also a web site on Ninoy Aquino which had informative insights into his imprisonment."

Mr Dang said the musical will be presented from an omniscient point of view to allow viewers to formulate their own judgments about the former first lady, and drew comparisons between Mrs Marcos and Eva Perón of Argentina.

"The way that Evita was produced was an inspiration for how a musical about a very famous and powerful woman could prove entertaining, education and thought-provoking. As an artistic director of an Asian American theatre, I am always looking for good roles and opportunities for Asian Pacific artists.

Imelda's story seemed perfect for a musical since musicals present high drama and emotions that cannot be told by mere words," he said. He moreover mentioned that Imelda will raise exposure both for its cast and the Marcos legacy.

"The potential for Imelda, the musical, can be big by giving more opportunities to Asia-Pacific musical performers, having more mainstream audiences learn more about Imelda, and giving visibility to Imelda herself," Mr Dang said.

Imelda will premiere next May 11 at the David Henry Hwang Theatre. Preview performances run from May 5-8. Please contact the East West Players at www.eastwestplayers.org for ticket information.


Copyright ©2004 Danny Chan. About the author