If you didn’t quite meet your Halloween quota, Lauren Greenfield has just released one of the scariest movies of the year. There are no creepy clowns or shambling zombies in “The Kingmaker,” her mesmerizing documentary about the modern political history of the Philippines. But who needs fantasies when reality is so ominous?
Greenfield’s villain appears, in classic form, as an apparent savior. Beautifully dressed and beatifically calm, an octogenarian Imelda Marcos travels the streets of Manila looking for people she can help. She rolls down the windows of her limo to give begging children money. She tours a crumbling pediatric hospital and shakes her head dolefully. When her husband was in charge, she reminds the camera, people never suffered as they do now.
Just when we’re wondering if this sympathetic and benevolent figure might have been a victim of fake news, Greenfield revisits her history to find the facts behind the legend.
Greenfield’s villain appears, in classic form, as an apparent savior. Beautifully dressed and beatifically calm, an octogenarian Imelda Marcos travels the streets of Manila looking for people she can help. She rolls down the windows of her limo to give begging children money. She tours a crumbling pediatric hospital and shakes her head dolefully. When her husband was in charge, she reminds the camera, people never suffered as they do now.
Just when we’re wondering if this sympathetic and benevolent figure might have been a victim of fake news, Greenfield revisits her history to find the facts behind the legend.
- 10/30/2019
- by Elizabeth Weitzman
- The Wrap
“Perception is real, and the truth is not,” announces Imelda Marcos in “The Kingmaker,” a jaw-dropping documentary in which director Lauren Greenfield exposes just how effective the wounded peacock has been in reshaping her status. Once world-famous for her shoe collection, Imelda benefited enormously from husband Ferdinand’s two-decade dictatorship over the of the Philippines, until being forced to flee to Hawaii in 1986. Now, back from exile, the disgraced former first lady is fully invested in reclaiming her family’s position atop a country whose coffers they once pillaged, attempting to bend democracy and boost her son, Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., to power.
Marcos’ print-the-legend philosophy has particular resonance in a post-truth world, although such sinister undertones sneak up on audiences in a movie that begins, innocently enough, as the latest of Greenfield’s astonishing portraits of wealth run amok. Even as far away as the Philippines, the photographer can...
Marcos’ print-the-legend philosophy has particular resonance in a post-truth world, although such sinister undertones sneak up on audiences in a movie that begins, innocently enough, as the latest of Greenfield’s astonishing portraits of wealth run amok. Even as far away as the Philippines, the photographer can...
- 8/30/2019
- by Peter Debruge
- Variety Film + TV
Sam Pinto, Ramon 'Bong' Revilla, Si Agimat at si Enteng Kabisote The fantasy adventure Si Agimat at si Enteng Kabisote, starring actor-politician Ramon 'Bong' Revilla and Vic Sotto, remains the top box-office hit at the 2010-2011 Metro Manila Film Festival, during which only Filipino movies — eight of them this year — are screened in The Philippines. To date, Si Agimat at si Enteng Kabisote has taken in P131,213,092 (Us$2.98m). Starring former president Corazon Aquino's daughter Kris Aquino — who also happens to be the current president's (Benigno Aquino III's) sister — the horror thriller Dalaw has brought in P65,550,261 (Us$1.49m). Dolphy's Father Jejemon has been at the bottom of the box-office chart despite the veteran comedian's Best Actor win announced last weekend. Albert Martinez's Rosario, a socially conscious period drama starring Jennylyn Mercado, hasn't been performing all that well, either — possibly because, according to one journalist, Martinez's movie...
- 1/3/2011
- by Irene Young
- Alt Film Guide
They're known for their love of pranks and practical jokes, but good friends Brad Pitt, George Clooney and Matt Damon have come together for something far more serious. The Ocean's 11 stars – all past or present winners of People's Sexiest Man Alive title – helped launch an advertising campaign aimed at getting more aid into Myanmar, whose ruling regime has made access to the country difficult for aid agencies and relief workers in the wake of last month's cyclone Nargis. The ad campaign is sponsored by the activist group Not On Our Watch, headed up by Pitt, Clooney, Damon and other Hollywood heavy-hitters.
- 6/25/2008
- by Sara Hammel
- PEOPLE.com
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