Review of Marwencol (2010) by John M — 16 May 2011
"therapy" still has a little stigma to it, no less in an age in which every unreflective pleasure can be relabeled a therapy, Mark Hogancamp invents a therapy for himself after he is stomped into a coma.
He builds a town of dolls to enact his dreamlike WW2 fantasyland. He photographs scenes he constructs with elaborate mythology and multiple referents in the real world. The photos begin to take off even as the therapy is beginning to confront the violence done to Mark who is struggling to heal from the trauma on all levels.
This is an amazing film on multiple themes: art, therapy, decent medical care, decent psychiatric care, manliness, escapism, and our public lives. It is full of surprises.
This review of Marwencol (2010) was written by John M on 16 May 2011.
Marwencol has generally received very positive reviews.
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