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Marwencol (2010)

tomatometer

98

Average Rating: 8.4/10
Reviews Counted: 55
Fresh: 54 | Rotten: 1

Inspiring and fascinating, Marwencol depicts its subject with heartfelt tenderness, raising poignant questions about art and personal tragedy along the way.

100

Average Rating: 8.5/10
Critic Reviews: 17
Fresh: 17 | Rotten: 0

Inspiring and fascinating, Marwencol depicts its subject with heartfelt tenderness, raising poignant questions about art and personal tragedy along the way.

audience

89

liked it
Average Rating: 4.1/5
User Ratings: 1,379

My Rating

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

Apr 12, 2011

$0.1M

The Cinema Guild

All Critics (55) | Top Critics (17) | Fresh (57) | Rotten (1) | DVD (4)

Director 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.

December 28, 2010 Full Review Source: Toronto Star | Comment
Toronto Star
Top Critic IconTop Critic

A fine, delicately nuanced portrait of an artist compelled by mysterious forces to create something utterly unique.

December 10, 2010 Full Review Source: Washington Post | Comment
Washington Post
Top Critic IconTop Critic

If you have even a passing interest in outsider art, you owe it to yourself to see "Marwencol."

December 2, 2010 Full Review Source: San Francisco Chronicle | Comment
San Francisco Chronicle
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Producer/director Jeff Malmberg tells the amazing true story with tenderness and tact.

December 2, 2010 Full Review Source: Minneapolis Star Tribune | Comment
Minneapolis Star Tribune
Top Critic IconTop Critic

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...

November 18, 2010 Full Review Source: Philadelphia Inquirer | Comment
Philadelphia Inquirer
Top Critic IconTop Critic

A celebration of the transformative power of art in coping with so many of the challenges people face -- healthcare problems, post-traumatic disorders, alternative lifestyles.

November 11, 2010 Full Review Source: Los Angeles Times | Comment
Los Angeles Times
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Alternate realities help us work through issues, but might keep us from confronting the world

September 30, 2011 Full Review Source: Movie Habit | Comment
Movie Habit

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.

August 20, 2011 Full Review Source: Cinemania | Comment

Fascinating docu traces victim's unusual healing process.

July 12, 2011 Full Review Source: Common Sense Media | Comment
Common Sense Media

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.

April 18, 2011 Full Review Source: BrianOrndorf.com | Comment
BrianOrndorf.com

First-time director Jeff Malmberg does almost everything right in this stunningly empathetic documentary.

March 13, 2011 Full Review Source: Metro Times (Detroit, MI) | Comment
Metro Times (Detroit, MI)

Marwencol provides a deeply empathetic view of loneliness and powerful evidence of art as an outlet.

March 9, 2011 Full Review Source: Reel Times: Reflections on Cinema | Comment
Reel Times: Reflections on Cinema

Speaks to the addictiveness, the catharsis, the unpredictability, and the eternity of the creative process.

March 4, 2011 Full Review Source: Window to the Movies | Comment
Window to the Movies

A heartwrenching tale of wish fulfillment on a nearly molecular level...

March 2, 2011 Full Review Source: Orlando Weekly | Comment
Orlando Weekly

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.

February 10, 2011 Full Review Source: KPBS.org | Comment
KPBS.org

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.

January 18, 2011 Full Review Source: Indie Movies Online | Comment
Indie Movies Online

Cinematically raw, untidy and sometimes positively odd, but it's also revealing, fascinating, unsettling and ultimately quite touching.

January 13, 2011 Full Review Source: One Guy's Opinion | Comment
One Guy's Opinion

"Marwencol" is inspiring but also insightful because it refuses to gloss over complex, even discomfiting questions surrounding its endearing but troubled central character.

January 6, 2011 Full Review Source: Oregonian | Comment
Oregonian

Malmberg instead takes a gentle approach. He's patient and coaxing, and he lets Mark grow comfortable for the camera.

January 4, 2011 Full Review Source: Combustible Celluloid | Comment
Combustible Celluloid

Simultaneously hypnotic and unnerving, it asks some rather uncomfortable questions about the nature of art and the potential and limits of self-healing.

December 28, 2010 Full Review Source: Seattle Times | Comment
Seattle Times

Enthralling and deeply strange.

December 28, 2010 Full Review Source: eye WEEKLY | Comment
eye WEEKLY

The film Marwencol is as mesmerizing as Mark's imaginary town and treats him and his world with absolute respect

December 17, 2010 Full Review Source: Playback:stl | Comment
Playback:stl

Hogancamp's alliance with director Jeff Malmberg in this artful and poignant film marks a victory in the war against the self.

December 17, 2010 Full Review Source: St. Louis Post-Dispatch | Comment
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
More Critic Reviews

Audience Reviews for Marwencol

"When his world was stolen, Mark Hogancamp made a world of his own."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.REVIEWAs with all the very best documentaries, it's what is

October 7, 2011
LorenzoVonMatterhorn
Lorenzo von Matterhorn

Super Reviewer

More than a simple documentary about an artform, Marwencol digs deep into the psyche and troubled past of the creator, Mark Hogencamp. Beaten by five men and left brain damaged, Mark had to relearn everything about his own life all over again. Because he has little money, Mark's various physical and psychological

May 25, 2011
FrizzDrop

Super Reviewer

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