Willkommen in Marwen

Before I saw WELCOME TO MARWEN, I saw a tweet calling it "Zemeckis' VERTIGO." Although I scoffed at the idea, after viewing it, I realized that it held some merit, with one of the female characters, played by Merritt Wever, eerily inhabiting a very similar role to that of Barbara Bel Geddes. There are some interesting ideas on display throughout the film that mirror themes found in VERTIGO, as both focus on men attempting to move past a traumatic experience. However, the men in both films elect to move past this trauma by shaping the females around them in their own desired image. It worked in VERTIGO, but 60 years removed from that film, such a premise seems tone-deaf to say the least. Furthermore, Zemeckis' latest film will no doubt serve as further evidence for the group of critics that peg him as a filmmaker primarily interested in the latest special effects rather than one primarily interested in telling a story. Zemeckis seems like an odd choice to helm this film, as he never opts for a subtle, tender approach to telling the story of Steve Carrell's Mark Hogancamp, who was assaulted by a group of white supremacists. Instead, Zemeckis opts to place the film's visual effects at the forefront, and electing to focus on shootouts and explosions rather than a more nuanced exploration of Hogancamp's fragile psychological state. That the film also revels in some more obvious instances of male "gaziness" when it shows some of the animated female doll figures topless is worthy of an eye-roll, to say the least.

That being said, I truly do think that Steve Carrell delivers a better performance here than most will give him credit for. When the script, written by Zemeckis and Caroline Thompson, isn't actively attempting to display the film's special effects (or having Carrell deliver some truly awful lines about the "essence of a woman"), Carrell does at least attempt to understand the struggles that his character's real-life counterpart underwent after the assault. The majority of the cast (even Leslie Mann, whose character unfortunately follows the manic pixie dream girl stereotype) also delivers some solid work, especially the aforementioned Wever. That being said, watching WELCOME TO MARWEN left me thinking that this was a story that didn't necessarily need to be made into a film, especially when a critically-acclaimed documentary about Hogancamp himself named MARWENCOL already exists.

After drunkenly confessing a love of wearing stiletto heels, comic book artist Mark Hogancamp is gay-bashed (ironically, he is not gay). The attack leaves him with what I (not a medical person) assume is brain damage, of which one effect is the loss of his drawing ability. Denied that, instead he channels his artistic leanings into constructing in his garden a World War Two Belgian village, populated with an Action Man-like doll as his own alter-ego, war hero "Cap'n Hogie" (who wears stilettos to "feel the essence of Dame"), and Sindy- or Barbie-like dolls representing various women in his life (his care assistant, a friendly woman in a hobby shop, a pornographic actress...) Using these dolls - often in scenes in which Hogie, captured by Nazis (representing Mark's assailants), is rescued by the women - Mark works through his personal demons and his photographs of the scenes give him a second artistic career. But his emotional equilibrium is threatened both by the arrival of kindly neighbour Nicol (who, somewhat unbelievably, does not find it remotely creepy when Mark immediately gives her her own doll equivalent in Marwen) and also by Deva the mysterious evil Belgian witch doll...

This is based on a true story, which may explain why we are spared the usual melodrama in which Mark's awful ordeal would usually be portrayed. Instead, he is presented as someone whose life has been severely affected by his assault, but who, as anyone would, is trying to cope and put his life back together: a couple of shouty episodes aside, he is a subdued, but not totally withdrawn, character. This, however, seems to result in a patchy performance from lead Steve Carell (in what I cynically imagine is the kind of role actors accept in the hope it will bag them an Oscar): whereas he is suitably gung-ho when voicing Hogie, as Mark I found his performance curiously detached. Of the other performances, the stand-out is Gwendoline Christie, but not in a good way: her Russian care assistant is so over-the-top it is as if she has just wandered in from a 'Carry on' film - it says a lot about her performance that she is more realistic when portraying a plastic doll.

Speaking of plastic dolls, the animated/CGI sequences are nicely done, both technically and also in injecting a little bit of humour into the film, while never swamping its central message of a man being forced to adapt to a change of circumstances that is not his fault. Ultimately, however, the quieter, real-life sequences - human interest drama I would usually appreciate - suffer in contrast to the colourful animated bits and I left the cinema undecided as to whether I had actually enjoyed the film or not.

I don't understand why the reviews are so bad. This is an original, unique story based on real events (that isn't a remake or a superhero movie) that I wouldn't have known about were it not for this film. I also liked the animation used to tell Mark's story. Sure, some of the dialogue wasn't great and the writing could have been better, but it didn't ruin the experience for me, or the rest of my life for that matter. Anyway, don't take my word for it or anyone else's, see for yourself because movies like this are rare nowadays.

Mark, after nearly being beaten to death, escapes into a fantasy world of dolls in a World War 2 setting he can control.

First off this is very slow and considered. The single goal of the story is to get Mark to attend a court date - that is it. But of course for him this is a herculean effort.

The characters are great, the action elements in the fantasy world are vivid and punchy and injects a bit of motion into a very sedate movie. Like "Sucker Punch" it gets a little bit repetitive as every problem Mark faces he retreats into his fantasy world.

Carell steps off the gas to give a heart felt performance, Leslie Mann does what she excels at: being desirable yet approachable. Merritt Wever holds it all together with an understated performance and she was my favourite character.

This isn't laugh-out-loud funny but it isn't as depressing as it might sound.

The only point I didn't like was that it framed Mark's attack as an encounter by strangers - which wasn't quite true. He was drinking with his attackers, otherwise they would know nothing about him. I felt like the writers were afraid an audience would lose sympathy for him if he knew his attackers in anyway. But I feel to the contrary: if some stranger attacks you just for being you there is little you can do about that - but if your actions put you into a situation that goes badly, then you are left wondering if it was somehow your fault, even if you are not to blame. Once I knew this I suddenly understood why the main character just couldn't move on and was stuck in a loop.

A very enjoyable, different film, a great watch but you will need patience and focus or this is going to feel long.

...somebody dares to think outside the box in this day and age. Thank you Robert Zemeckis for daring to push the envelope and revealing more of the ongoings in the human mind than most documentaries are able.

This is an extraordinarily grown up film - skilfully portraying the workings of the inner mind. Trusting the audience to stay in touch with their younger self, to receive the message, is a mind twistingingly daring approach to great film making.

Arguably skipping the BOATS (Based On A True Story) aspect and tweaking the script into pure fiction would have been beneficial to the broader audience. This for two reasons; the concept is strong enough to stand alone and all viewers could watch without prejudice. As it stands some viewers will carry a pre-conception as To how the story "should" be told.

However, the main reason for falling short of giving Welcome to Marwen a 10/10 is insecurity from this reviewer. The format is so fresh that there are few points of reference - this rating may well improve over time.

It IS a must see, also an invitation to grow up - and get back in contact with the; playful and curious approach to learning so many of us have forgotten.