Review of Marwencol (2010) by Generoso F — 09 Dec 2010

Back in 2004, director Jessica Yu delivered her impressive documentary on the life's work of Henry Darger, a janitor who sequestered himself in his apartment to create In The Realms Of The Unreal, a novel of over 11,000 pages that created every aspect of a world that he needed to make to escape his own life.

One immediately draws a connection to "Marwencol", directed by Jeff Malmberg. "Marwencol" is the story of Mark Hogancamp, a man who is beaten almost to death by five men outside of a bar which resulted in massive brain damage.

Now on disability, Hogancamp works one day a week at a diner but spends the bulk of his time creating the small Belgian town of Marwencol during world war two, a town where he can play out his internal struggle about his past through the story of the models he creates.

Like "In The Realms Of The Unreal", Malmberg uses the story Hogancamp creates to drive the narrative but it is not a gimmick, it is the internal dialog of the film's central figure and it is done with genuine sensitivity and respect.

It is never condescending or contrived, revealing Hogancamp's back story with his own words through the actions of his alter ego. Unique, daring work.