The Kingmaker

Former First Lady of the Philippines Imelda Marcos – she of the sensational shoe shopping habit and excesses so notorious they led to the spawning of an adjective, “Imeldific” – is the fascinating subject of this jaw-dropping new documentary. 

Greenfield’s film reveals a wholly unrepentant woman, who has clearly still kept her hands on a great deal of the American aid money that successive US presidents once gave the Philippines in return for suppressing communism and civil rights and showing hospitality to US naval power – cash that she and her husband, Ferdinand, looted from the public purse and salted away abroad. This was the larceny that finally got them booted out of office and briefly exiled in the 80s, but Imelda has returned to her homeland as a widow, and is now trying to create a gruesome Marcos dynasty…

*****- 5 Stars, The Guardian