Marwencol (film)

Marwencol (also known as Village of the Dolls in the UK[3][4]) is a 2010 American documentary film that explores the life and work of artist and photographer Mark Hogancamp. It is the debut feature of director-editor Jeff Malmberg. It was the inspiration for Welcome to Marwen, a 2018 drama directed by Robert Zemeckis.[5][6]

Marwencol
Theatrical release poster
Directed byJeff Malmberg
Produced byJeff Malmberg
Tom Putnam
Matt Radecki
Chris Shellen
Kevin W. Walsh
StarringMark Hogancamp
Music byAsh Black Bufflo[1]
Edited byJeff Malmberg
Production
company
Open Face
Distributed byThe Cinema Guild
Release date
  • October 8, 2010 (2010-10-08)
Running time
83 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$38,000
Box office$112,036[2]

Plot

On April 8, 2000, Mark Hogancamp was attacked outside of a bar by five men who beat him nearly to death after he drunkenly told them he was a cross-dresser. After nine days in a coma and 40 days in the hospital, Hogancamp was discharged with brain damage that left him little memory of his previous life. Unable to afford therapy, he creates his own by building a 1/6-scale World War II–era Belgian town in his yard and populating it with dolls representing himself, his friends, and even his attackers. He calls that town Marwencol, blending the names Mark, Wendy, and Colleen.[7]

Hogancamp was initially discovered by photographer David Naugle, who documented and shared his story with Esopus magazine.[8]

Production

The film was shot in New York State between 2006 and 2010, using a combination of DVCAM video and Super-8 film formats.[9]

Reception

On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 98% based on 62 reviews, with an average rating of 8.4/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Inspiring and fascinating, Marwencol depicts its subject with heartfelt tenderness, raising poignant questions about art and personal tragedy along the way."[10] The site awarded the film its Golden Tomato Award for the best-reviewed documentary of the year.[11] On Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating to reviews, the film has a weighted average score of 82 out of 100, based on 18 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".[12]

The Los Angeles Times called the film "an exhilarating, utterly unique experience", while the Village Voice said that it's "exactly the sort of mysterious and almost holy experience you hope to get from documentaries and rarely do." The film was in the year-end top-10 lists of the Boston Globe,[13] The Globe and Mail,[14] Slate,[15] New York magazine,[16] The Oregonian,[17] National Public Radio,[18] and many others.

The film was included in Entertainment Weekly's July 6, 2012, article "50 Best Movies You've Never Seen".[19] In the 2012 Slate article and online poll, "The Golden Age of Documentaries: What's the Best Doc of the Last 5 Years?", Marwencol was ranked No. 1 in the poll.[20]

In the 2012 PBS/POV online poll, "The 100 Greatest Documentaries of All Time", Marwencol was ranked No. 91 in the poll.[21]

In the April 22, 2013, New York article, "How Documentary Became the Most Exciting Kind of Filmmaking", Marwencol was among the films in the accompanying list, "The 20 Essential Documentaries of the Century".[22]

In September 2016, Cinema Eye Honors named Marwencol as one of the 20 top nonfiction films of the past decade, based on a poll of 110 key figures in the documentary community.[23]

In October 2019 Paste Magazine included Marwencol in their article, "The 30 Best Documentaries of the 2010s". The film was listed as #23.[24]

In 2013, Robert Zemeckis began work on a dramatization of the story for Universal Studios based on a script by Caroline Thompson.[5] Welcome to Marwen was released in December 2018, starring Steve Carell as Hogancamp.[6]

The ninth episode of the second season of Fox sitcom Raising Hope ("The Men of New Natesville") is an homage to the film.[25]

The Spike Jonze–directed music video for the Beastie Boys song "Don't Play No Game That I Can't Win" was inspired by the film and Hogancamp's world.[26]

The Russian musical group The Saint Petersburg Disco Spin Club released a track in 2011 called "Marwencol".[27]

The American punk rock group Tough Broad released the 2012 song "Marwencol."[28]

Awards and accolades

See also
  • Welcome to Marwencol, Princeton Architectural Press, 2015. (ISBN 978-1616894153)
  • List of films with longest production time
  • Synecdoche, New York, a 2008 drama film about a theater director who creates a tremendously elaborate stage set, in an attempt to control a version of his own reality

References
  1. Peter Debruge (March 30, 2010). "Marwencol (Documentary)". Variety. Retrieved 2011-05-13. ... music, Ash Black Bufflo...
  2. "Marwencol (2010)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved December 22, 2018.
  3. "Marwencol / Village of the Dolls - The Skinny". Theskinny.co.uk. Retrieved 23 September 2017.
  4. "Marwencol (Village of the Dolls) on iTunes". iTunes. Retrieved 23 September 2017.
  5. "Robert Zemeckis to Direct 'Marwencol' for Universal". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 22 December 2018.
  6. Kroll, Justin (28 April 2017). "Universal Dates Robert Zemeckis-Directed Steve Carell Film for November 2018". Variety.com. Retrieved 22 December 2018.
  7. Green, Penelope (2011-04-06). "In a Tiny Universe, Room to Heal: At Home With Mark Hogancamp". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2019-03-27.
  8. Hogancamp, Mark (Fall 2005). "Marwencol on My Mind". Esopus. Archived from the original on 2006-05-11.
  9. Lanthier, Joseph Jon (2010-12-02). "2010 Jacqueline Donnet Emerging Documentary Filmmaker Award--Cutting a Path of Understanding: Jeff Malmberg". International Documentary Association. Retrieved 2017-09-23.
  10. "Marwencol (2010)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved December 22, 2018.
  11. "The 12th Annual Golden Tomato Awards : Documentary - Rotten Tomatoes". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 22 December 2018.
  12. "Marwencol reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved December 22, 2018.
  13. Burr, Ty (2010-12-26). "In this pivotal year, documentaries had the most movie mystery". Boston.com. Retrieved 2017-09-23.
  14. "Rick Groen and Liam Lacey's best films of 2010". The Globe and Mail. 2010-12-30. Retrieved 2017-09-23.
  15. Stevens, Dana (2010-12-29). "Wow". Slate. ISSN 1091-2339. Retrieved 2017-09-23.
  16. Edelstein, David (2010-12-05). "The Year in Movies". Nymag.com. Retrieved 2017-09-23.
  17. "Stan Hall's Best Films of 2010". OregonLive.com. 2010-12-30. Retrieved 2017-09-23.
  18. Edelstein, David (2010-12-23). "Flicks, Picked: Best And Worst Films Of 2010". Npr.org. Retrieved 2017-09-23.
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  26. "Spike Jonze's New Beastie Boys Video Sets Course For Marwencol". Bleedingcool.com. Retrieved 22 December 2018.
  27. "The Saint Petersburg Disco Spin Club - Marwencol". Soundcloud.com. Retrieved 22 December 2018.
  28. "Marwencol, by Tough Broad". Toughbroad.bandcamp.com. Retrieved 22 December 2018.
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