Dangerous Life, A

Beginning life as a 6 hour HBO miniseries, this telemovie, scripted by David Williamson with cinematography by James Bartle and music by Brian May, about the 1986 Philippines' "People's Revolution", has Gary Busey (in a role originally intended for Tom Conti) as a television reporter covering the final days of Imelda and Ferdinand Marcos.As a narrative device this works well, allowing for the delivery of quite a deal of factual information and the interpolation of news footage without it ever seeming incongruous.

Although later edited down to a single 162m telemovie, when seen as a single feature it is probably too much of a good thing. Least successful is the standard romantic sub-plot with Rebecca Gilling as Busey's wife. In the original script they were friends and the marital stoush was added to spice up proceedings but the net effect is only to slow things down with Gilling particularly ineffectual in carrying off her tacked-on role. Whatever merits the film has as factual history (it was largely shot in Sri Lanka), probably its greatest strength is in its depiction of the Marcos's folie à deux and the corrupting nature of absolute power, with Ruben Rustia particularly impressive as the deluded Marcos.

FYI: The film was produced by Hal McElroy who had previously been forced to abandon filming in the Philippines with another movie about a people's revolution, The Year of Living Dangerously (1982) which was about the Soeharto regime in Indonesia.

 

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