WELCOME TO MARWEN
Welcome To
Marwen has been reviled by the majority of critics, generated a barely lukewarm
response in Rotten Tomatoes' audience poll, and has appeared in fewer theaters
than a three hour art film. Despite an intriguing trailer filled with award
winning possibilities, Welcome To Marwen has officially tanked at the box
office. To paraphrase Monte Python, Marwen is a dead parrot...it is not pining
for the fjords. It has passed on. It is no more. It has ceased to be, expired
and gone to meet its maker. It's stiff, bereft of life. It rests in peace. It
has kicked the bucket and shuffled off this mortal coil. It is an ex-parrot. If
it hadn't been nailed to the perch, it would
be pushing up daisies...
Based on the
trailer, which solicited 'that looks great' whispers from my wife every time we
saw it in theaters, Welcome To Marwen had been high on our 'must see' list. But
the critical drubbing it received dropped it down to 'we'll wait to see it via
the inevitable DVD/streaming release...maybe.'
Then a
friend, whose judgement we trust, asked if we had seen Welcome To Marwen. He
and his wife went on to give the film an enthusiastic 'you gotta see it, two
thumbs way up, it's fantastic' recommendation. We had a free evening, so we
tracked the film down at the only theater in our county where it was playing
and prepared to be underwhelmed.
What we
experienced was a masterpiece of creative moviemaking. This may be slightly
hyperbolic, but something outrageous has to be said to counter the undeserved
avalanche of bad press Welcome To Marwen has received. We spent two hours
riveted to the screen watching an amazing blend of flawless CGI animation
cleverly and subtlety interwoven into the true story of a gifted artistic
individual struggling to overcome horrendous trauma and find his place in the
world again.
Welcome To
Marwen, stars the versatile Steve Carell as Mark Hogancamp. A brutal hate
crime, perpetrated because of his affinity for female shoes, wipes away all of
Hogancamp's memories of his former life. Unable to afford therapy, Hogancamp
tries to heal his PTSD through art therapy, constructing miniature WWII scenes
featuring mostly female dolls repeatedly taking on a gang of Nazis with
familiar faces.
Putting
together pieces from his old and new life, Hogancamp meticulously creates the
wondrous miniature Belgium town of Marwen, a place where he can heal and be
heroic. This astonishing art installation is also a testament to the most
powerful women he knows (both real and imagined) from whom he draws the
strength to triumph over the crushing adversity of his real world experience.
Welcome To Marwen is a bold and wondrous film, proving courageous imagination
is a weapon more powerful than any devastation. It is an uplifting story about
hope and triumph...and certainly a film worth making the effort to see...
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