Wisconsin Film Festival - Day 1 - Marwencol

When Mark Hogancamp sustained a brutal beating at the hands of five strangers, he lost almost the whole of his memory, and was forced to literally rebuild himself from scratch. After the money ran out for his rehabilitation, as well as the therapy needed to deal with the trauma, he began constructing a fictional town, called Marwencol, in his backyard.

Marwencol, the movie, directed with great affection by Jeff Malmberg, is a winning portrait of Mr. Hogancamp, and a fascinating meditation on why people create art. Marwencol (the town) is a strange fantasy world that appears to be primarily inspired by war comics from the 1970's. Mr. Hogancamp populates the town with dolls that often represent people in his life, creating story arcs through photography that mirror his attempts to reintegrate with the outside world and deal with the anger left by his beating.


All this would be fascinating on its own, but what really makes this movie special is Mr. Hogancamp's engaging personality. Sad, funny, candid, and with some interesting rough edges, he is a joy to watch on the screen, and wisely, Mr. Malmberg has employed a light touch in telling his story, touching on lofty ideas without belaboring them, and providing ample room for Mr. Hogancamp's work to speak for itself.

As a magazine editor comments on Mr Hogancamp's work, what really makes it succeed is that although he is basically taking photographs of dolls, there's no irony in it, which makes it compelling. The same can be said of Marwencol.