Why Imelda Marcos would allow filmmaker Ramona Diaz to get as close to her for as long as she does is anyone's guess, but this is documentary film at its best. At 70, Imelda is every bit the royal: charming, poised, beautiful, grand. "Imelda" is an excellent character study in power, greed and delusion.
Some of my favorite moments in the film:
* Anytime Imelda opens her mouth, especially when she espouses her views on beauty, truth and love: give people enough rope and they hang themselves.
* George Hamilton serenading Imelda aboard her yacht: "I can't give you anything but love, Imelda."
* Female security guard at the Imelda Marcos Shoe Museum who whispers to the camera that she sometimes sneaks in and tries some of them on.
* Imelda dancing with Henry Kissinger
* Imelda's description of the assassination attempt against her, "And he used such an ugly instrument. At least he could have tied a little bow on it or something."
* Comments from opposition are sometimes deadly accurate: "She built so many public works, she had an edifice complex."
This movie is available on DVD. Hard to find, but more people should see it. What it provides that I have never seen before is a closeup of one of the world's most notorious she-villains and the global power circles where she once strode.
... in fabulous pumps.