Marwencol (2010)

(Criterion Streaming, November 2019) A lot of people initially went from documentary Marwencol to the better-known dramatization Welcome to Marwen, but as time goes by, I expect that most viewers will go in the opposite direction. Both films are about Mark Hogancamp, a man who recovered from serious trauma by building a miniature city and developing an elaborate mythology about it, taking pictures of the evolving installation. While Robert Zemeckis’ fictional take on the story sanded off many of the edges and added eye-popping special effects to reinforce a Hollywoodized narrative, Marwencol is, from the title onward, a far more difficult work. It has reality on its side, which works to further astonishment, but also makes it more difficult to watch as well, stripped from the arms-length nature of fictionalization. There aren’t feel-good romantic arcs here, no strong therapy-completed-now-on-to-brighter-thing going on either. Hogancamp has created something remarkable out of pain, but the pain is never too far away. It limits Marwencol’s appeal, but doesn’t minimize the remarkable achievement chronicled here, or the remarkable resilience of human creativity. Interesting, but not necessarily comforting viewing.