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Marwencol

Play trailer Poster for Marwencol 2010 1h 23m Documentary Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
98% Tomatometer 62 Reviews 87% Popcornmeter 1,000+ Ratings
After recovering from a brutal attack that left him in a coma, Mark Hogancamp builds a miniature World War II-era town in his backyard and creates photographic stories of its intrigues.

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Marwencol

Marwencol

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Critics Consensus

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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Critics Reviews

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Alissa Wilkinson Vox 12/19/2018
4/5
Malmberg hangs back, allowing the character of Hogancamp - rather than any contrivance or "plot" - to power the film. Go to Full Review
John Hartl Seattle Times 12/28/2010
3/4
Simultaneously hypnotic and unnerving, it asks some rather uncomfortable questions about the nature of art and the potential and limits of self-healing. Go to Full Review
Bruce DeMara Toronto Star 12/28/2010
3/4
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. Go to Full Review
Dustin Chang Floating World 03/21/2021
Malmberg's documentary is tender and intimate. Horgancamp is never treated or seen as a freak but a genuine folk artist with great imagination. Go to Full Review
Brian D. Johnson Maclean's Magazine 08/26/2019
Marwencol is a brilliant exploration of the elusive line that separates art from delusion. Go to Full Review
Mattie Lucas From the Front Row 08/05/2019
3/4
A fascinating portrait of an artist who didn't even know he was one that challenges its audiences' notions of art and reality by confronting them with a man who refuses to be pigeonholed. Go to Full Review
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Audience Reviews

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Johnathon W @Hoppynsc 02/08/2020 Fascinating look into the like of Mark Hogancamp, a cross dresser who after being brutally beaten at a bar, rebuilds his life through a fantasy world of dolls and figurines. Jeff Malmberg gives an unfiltered light to Hogancamp, showing him as a eccentric person with his own demons (he readily admits to his alcoholism) but also making him sympathetic, showing he didn't deserve what happened to him. Hogancamp toys and stories he builds around them aren't looked down upon either, as Malmberg shows Hogancamp is using these as a kind of therapy, in many ways displaying the strength of his character. A truly fascinating look at a unique individual, and his own way he rebuilt his life. See more David F @dfulmer 03/01/2019 Fascinating documentary. See more 08/26/2018 The director Jeff Malmberg is an editor. He edited this film to imply that Colleen encouraged deviant stalking behavior toward her in this film. He actually went so far as to re-enact very dangerous and disturbing activity with Hogancamp himself without regard for her safety. So far the world has known the narrative of this film as told through the reflective world of fanaticism. It will be interesting to see how many women find Malmbergs character (the fictional Hogancamp of this film) so interesting once they realize that the director took ownership of his story and distorted it into a bitter pill for the subjects. See more 05/21/2016 What a beautiful and inspiring movie. What a wonderful guy with a wonderful dream. See more 04/17/2016 In this fascinating documentary, after being attacked by five men and left in a coma for nine days, a man wakes up with brain damage and must learn everything all over again. Eventually he created his own form of therapy by creating his own fictional town in his backyard and populating with GI Joes and Barbies and creating a long running story-line and taking lots of photographs of the dolls. The way he sort of unintentionally created art just to deal with his psychological issues after a severe attack (and used violence with the dolls to avoid lashing out in real life) is wonderful....and the revelations about who Mark is are really surprising to see unfold. See more 10/02/2015 Um homem que brinca com bonecos para superar um trauma terrível. Uma história tocante. See more Read all reviews
Marwencol

My Rating

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Movie Info

Synopsis After recovering from a brutal attack that left him in a coma, Mark Hogancamp builds a miniature World War II-era town in his backyard and creates photographic stories of its intrigues.
Director
Jeff Malmberg
Producer
Jeff Malmberg, Tom Putnam, Matt Radecki, Chris Shellen
Distributor
Cinema Guild
Genre
Documentary
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Oct 8, 2010, Limited
Release Date (Streaming)
Mar 8, 2017
Box Office (Gross USA)
$112.0K
Runtime
1h 23m
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