Trailer for Welcome to Marwen, starring Eiza González, Diane Kruger, Steve Carell, Leslie Mann and Gwendoline Christie.
This holiday season, Academy Award winner Robert Zemeckis -- the groundbreaking filmmaker behind Forrest Gump, Flight and Cast Away -- directs Steve Carell in the most original movie of the year.
Welcome to Marwen tells the miraculous true story of one broken man's fight as he discovers how artistic imagination can restore the human spirit. When a devastating attack shatters Mark Hogancamp (Steve Carell) and wipes away all memories, no one expected recovery. Putting together pieces from his old and new life, Mark meticulously creates a wondrous town where he can heal and be heroic. As he builds an astonishing art installation -- a testament to the most powerful women he knows -- through his fantasy world, he draws strength to triumph in the real one.
In a bold, wondrous and timely film from this revolutionary pioneer of contemporary cinema, Welcome to Marwen shows that when your only weapon is your imagination ... you'll find courage in the most unexpected place.
Film is based on the 2010 documentary Marwencol, the true story of Mark Hogancamp. At the time an alcoholic, the photographer remembers meeting men at a bar -- he was an alcoholic at the time -- and laughing that they all had German descent. After admitting to the men that he was a crossdresser, the same group attacked him from behind after departing from the bar. The film converts this into that the same men were Nazis, since the toys Hogancamp created to kill were World War II Nazis.
In order to cope with his hatred after learning what happened to him, Mark Hogancamp created his miniatures in a town called Marwencol. A setting that allowed Mark to repeatedly kill and torture these same five individuals, since doing it in real life would have landed him in prison.
Wow, this is a very unique way to tell the story. It's hard not to be impressed, and the film is definitely in good hands with Robert Zemeckis. Steve Carell also looks to have his hands full, playing the broken but recovering victim who once again finds his way. Or at least makes amends with what has happened to him.
I am curious how loosely the film will play with the source material and am left with some questions now that this first Welcome to Marwen trailer has drawn a ton of interest in Mark Hogancamp. To start, were the five men ever caught? Was there a court drama as presented here?