This free documentary shows the infamous rise & dramatic fall of Imelda Marcos

An icon of '80s excess.

March 14, 2022

This free documentary shows the infamous rise & dramatic fall of Imelda Marcos

When it comes to opulence, excess, corruption, and human rights violations in Southeast Asia, you could fill out an entire laundry list of names if you really had the time. This, of course, comprises of a whole host of individuals, including heads of state, their not-so-on-the-sideline spouses, and even people claiming to be 'businessmen'.

But one name that will perhaps live in eternal infamy is Imelda Marcos – the former First Lady of the Philippines to then President Ferdinand Marcos, who wielded dictatorial rule throughout his time in power.

Of course, Imelda was known for one thing in particular: Her insatiable love for designer shoes – amounting to 3,000 pairs.

But there's more to the 'Iron Butterfly' than shoes.

Lauren Greenfield interviews Imelda Marcos. IMAGE: Evergreen Pictures / Vox

In Lauren Greenfield's The Kingmaker, a documentary that takes us through the rise and fall of the Marcos family, we see Imelda herself narrate the entire journey through snippets of interviews with Greenfield.

The documentary actually premiered back in 2019 at the 76th Venice International Film Festival, but it's now available to stream on Vimeo – for free, might I add.

Finally! We have worked out an arrangement with our partners @ABSCBN and @iwanttfc, and are now able to share THE KINGMAKER with *all* of our friends in the Philippines - https://t.co/WNVUwZJSyc

Anyone can now watch it, so pls share this link #thekingmaker — Lauren Greenfield (@lgreen66) March 10, 2022

At first, The Kingmaker might make you feel some sympathy for Imelda. But very quickly, she descends into delusion, firmly believing she hadn't done anything wrong throughout the Marcos' time in power. Or so, that's what she might want you think.

It's fascinating, and mildly uncomfortable to see a woman of such stature and infamy talk about herself as a saint. Of course, the villagers who were forcibly removed from their community to make way for her precious safari zoo (with animals flown in from Africa) would like to differ.

IMAGE: EPA / Al Jazeera

"I thought she was surprisingly candid in the first interview, so it seemed more like she believed her own story, rather than telling untruths," Greenfield said in a 2019 interview with Vox.

"It took me like a little while to realize that what she said was just not true. She first told me about how great her marriage was, and I really didn’t know otherwise. But then, I learned about the affairs. I learned about other things that were obviously untrue [such as the state of the Marcos marriage, the way the Marcoses accumulated their wealth, and the living conditions in the Philippines under Marcos’ imposition of martial law]. When it got to the really egregious things, then it became really clear."

IMAGE: Rappler

It becomes very apparent that she really did see herself as some sort of savior to the people of the Philippines. In fact, she once said these very words, which by any standard just sounds narcissistic:

“Filipinos want beauty. I have to look beautiful so that poor Filipinos will have a star to look at from their slums.”