The ‘Dangerous Life’ of Imelda and Ferdinand

HBO continues to do some of the boldest work in television.

The cable network of “Dear America: Letters Home From Vietnam” and “Tanner ‘88” delivers again with “A Dangerous Life,” a masterful, simply mesmerizing three-part political thriller that tracks and gives dramatic resonance to events that led to the toppling of the Marcos regime in the Philippines.

Setting aside its entertainment value for a moment, the significance of “A Dangerous Life” as perceived living history should not be underestimated. Airing at 8 p.m. Sunday through Tuesday, it will be seen by many Americans as the account of record on Ferdinand Marcos’ reluctant yielding of control and the 1986 ascension, amid chaos and uncertainty, of current President Corazon Aquino.

And understandably so, for this story bears the trappings of legitimacy in depicting insider intrigues so realistically that it seems almost to wiretap the inner sanctums of Filipino power.

Others must vouch for the accuracy and historical integrity of “A Dangerous Life,” which was filmed in the Philippines, Australia and Sri Lanka. To be sure, that familiar bogyman Dramatic License rears up from time to time, especially in private, undocumented conversations between the Marcoses that fit their images of greed, corruption and ruthlessness, but may not necessarily fit fact.

As drama, however, “A Dangerous Life” is irresistible, six hours of tingly, high-charged TV that are as volatile, ironic and suspenseful as the history they purport to re-enact--and which are made all the more relevant by the current legal proceedings against the Marcoses in the United States.

Screenwriter David Williamson (“The Year of Living Dangerously”) adds his own players to the basic history.

Fictional American TV correspondent Tony O’Neill (Gary Busey) guides us through a tumultuous time that starts with the 1983 assassination of Corazon’s husband, exiled Philippine leader Benigno Aquino, as he arrives in Manila. Like others, O’Neill suspects that Ferdinand Marcos (Ruben Rustia) is behind the murder.

Thus the dominoes begin falling, leading to the downfall of Marcos and his wife, Imelda (Tessie Tomas), through events that are skillfully revealed to us via O’Neill’s reports, actual news footage and the simulated back-room plottings of the Marcoses and their political foes.

So tenaciously does O’Neill cover the story that an angry Imelda has him brought to Malacanang Palace late one night in hopes of gently persuading him to view her more . . . compassionately. She rests her hand on his knee to make the point.

Not that O’Neill lacks for female companionship, given the blissful moments he spends with his Filipino girlfriend Celie (Dina Bonnevie) and the unwelcome arrival of his wife, Angie (Rebecca Gilling), from New York.

It is these awkward romantic pit stops that lack validity and occasionally slow the story, for neither female character is credible, and Angie’s motivation for staying on in Manila as a sort of photojournalist (she handles a camera like a lollipop) is never clear.

O’Neill is far more believable, a flawed yet relentless reporter trying to make sense of a revolutionary Philippines where Marcos’ terroristic power is giving way to people power and where separate agendas and deep-throated leakers and counter-leakers shape the political scene. TV’s most believable journalist in years, O’Neill not only occasionally gets scooped by the competition, but also does the unheard of by actually taking notes in the line of duty.

There is plenty to record, as recent Philippine history again unfolds, with Ferdinand Marcos trying in vain to survive against separate threats from the popular Corazon Aquino (Laurice Guillen) and ambitious Defense Minister Juan Ponce Enrile (Joonee Gamboa), who is joined by Gen. Fidel Ramos (Ray Ventura) in leading an army rebellion.

Marcos’ tainted 1986 election victory and the popular and military revolts against his regime are superbly constructed by director Robert Markowitz. The complex political machinations, the anxiety and nervousness of the key conspirators and the deep emotions of the Filipino people are all enveloping.

“A Dangerous Life” assumes the aura of a biblical epic at one point as thousands of Filipinos pour into the streets to support the army rebels and stop Marcos tanks from advancing on rebel headquarters. At another point, the rebels pray as Marcos choppers approach like dark angels of death.

Busey does nicely as O’Neill. Guillen makes a plausible Aquino, somewhat naive politically, but spiny and determined. No one on the screen, however, is more convincing than Rustia and Tomas as the Marcoses. Multifaced actors, their Ferdinand and Imelda are just a little bit comical (at one point singing a duet in public a la Roy Rogers and Dale Evans), yet ultimately chillingly brutal.

Their power deeply eroded and their U.S. support withdrawn, they flee with their entourage and gold bullion, leaving behind Imelda’s famous closets and row after row of high-heeled shoes as memorials to lavish self-indulgence.