Marwencol (2010)
Average Rating: 8.4/10
Reviews Counted: 58
Fresh: 57 | Rotten: 1
Inspiring and fascinating, Marwencol depicts its subject with heartfelt tenderness, raising poignant questions about art and personal tragedy along the way.
Average Rating: 8.2/10
Critic Reviews: 19
Fresh: 19 | Rotten: 0
Inspiring and fascinating, Marwencol depicts its subject with heartfelt tenderness, raising poignant questions about art and personal tragedy along the way.
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Average Rating: 4.1/5
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Movie Info
On April 8, 2000, Mark Hogancamp was brutally attacked by five men in his hometown of Kingston, New York. The assault left the ex-navyman, carpenter, and showroom designer in a coma for nine days; he emerged with brain damage that initially made it impossible for him to walk, eat, or speak. Physical and occupational therapy helped him regain basic motor skills, but after less than a year he discovered that without insurance, he could no longer afford it. Determined "not to let those five guys
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All Critics (58) | Top Critics (19) | Fresh (60) | Rotten (1) | DVD (4)
Simultaneously hypnotic and unnerving, it asks some rather uncomfortable questions about the nature of art and the potential and limits of self-healing.
Top CriticDirector Jeff Malmberg sees something in Hogancamp that he wants all of us to see, an imperfect human scarred by horrific trauma who nonetheless finds a reason to live.
A fine, delicately nuanced portrait of an artist compelled by mysterious forces to create something utterly unique.
If you have even a passing interest in outsider art, you owe it to yourself to see "Marwencol."
Producer/director Jeff Malmberg tells the amazing true story with tenderness and tact.
Marwencol is about Hogancamp and his miniature alter-ego, about his photographs and his creative process. But it is also, on a deeper level, about how we process our experiences...
Extraordinary, astonishing, revealing, unique
Truly inspiring
The film is never flippant, never disrespectful and always approaches Mark's hobby with eyes wide open and no agenda other than fascinated admiration.
Alternate realities help us work through issues, but might keep us from confronting the world
By allowing his emerging post-trauma experience into his pretend kingdom, the man is reconstituting his self-consciousness, reclaiming the dignity of his whole mind, recovering his soul.
Fascinating docu traces victim's unusual healing process.
It's an interesting tension, brought on by Mark's high-heeled anxiety, but the true beauty and amazement of the film is best left lingering inside the borders of this imaginary town.
First-time director Jeff Malmberg does almost everything right in this stunningly empathetic documentary.
Marwencol provides a deeply empathetic view of loneliness and powerful evidence of art as an outlet.
Speaks to the addictiveness, the catharsis, the unpredictability, and the eternity of the creative process.
A heartwrenching tale of wish fulfillment on a nearly molecular level...
Marwencol is a mesmerizing documentary, and like Mark Hogancamp it continually surprises you. It may also be one of the best films you'll see all year.
Hogancamp didn't know he was creating art ... he was merely surviving, spinning stories for his sanity. In an era of 'look-at-me,' this type of agenda is as far away from our world as Marwencol itself.
Cinematically raw, untidy and sometimes positively odd, but it's also revealing, fascinating, unsettling and ultimately quite touching.
"Marwencol" is inspiring but also insightful because it refuses to gloss over complex, even discomfiting questions surrounding its endearing but troubled central character.
Malmberg instead takes a gentle approach. He's patient and coaxing, and he lets Mark grow comfortable for the camera.
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After a vicious attacks leaves him brain-damaged and broke, Mark Hogancamp seeks recovery in "Marwencol", a 1/6th scale World War II-era town he creates in his backyard.
REVIEW
As with all the very best documentaries, it's what is implied rather than what is said outright. This brilliantly restrained piece chooses to give subtle information at all the right times, perfectly conveying the emotion attached to its subject matter. Previous alcoholic, bitter and angry, Mark Hogancamp was left in a coma after he received a savage beating outside a bar by five men. The resulting damage meant that he had also lost a lot of memory from the attack, losing details in his life (including his need for alcohol). Having lost his identity, Mark dealt with his traumas by constructing the titular miniature town of Marwencol, often reenacting scenes from flashes of memory, with toy dolls closely representing people in his life.
Brilliantly paced, we learn of Mark's life, anxieties, and fears, and learn of a lonely, highly intelligent individual, who just does not want any further pain in his life. Thus, retracting from life and society, to live through his doll-town stories. If the first half is a little labouring in providing information to the viewer, the second half justifies this approach no end, as we compassionately learn of Mark's personality, what makes him comfortable, and the few real loves throughout his life. As well as the reason for the attack that so affected his life.
The film is never judgmental, never dwells on its issues more than others. Scenes of Mark walking a toy jeep 160 miles on his trips to the local stores in order to wear the wheels in and appear authentic, prove to be highly endearing rather than seem odd or snigger-inducing. When Mark's constructions are later discovered as works of art, he struggles with his preparation for a New York exhibition of his constructions and photography. Yet clearly his honesty and integrity have a strong effect on the people he encounters there. What we are left with in the end is an honest portrait of a man overcoming his life's traumas. Therapy through art, in the most dignified and humble of ways.