Welcome to Marwen Dvd

Welcome to Marwen is a 2018 American drama film directed by Robert Zemeckis, who co-wrote the script with Caroline Thompson. It is inspired by Jeff Malmberg’s 2010 documentary Marwencol. The film stars Steve Carell, Leslie Mann, Diane Kruger, Merritt Wever, Janelle Monáe, Eiza González, Gwendoline Christie, Leslie Zemeckis, Siobhan Williams and Neil Jackson, and follows the true story of Mark Hogancamp, a man struggling with PTSD who, after being physically assaulted, creates a fictional village to ease his trauma.

The film was released in the United States by Universal Pictures on December 21, 2018. It received mixed reviews from critics due to its inconsistent tone and screenplay, although the visuals (particularly the motion-capture animated segments), story, and performances received some praise. The film grossed $13 million worldwide on a budget as high as $50 million, becoming a major box-office disappointment.

Plot

A World War II warplane piloted by a doll-like figure is hit by enemy fire and forced to ditch. The pilot’s shoes are burned in the landing and he finds women’s shoes, which he wears instead. The pilot is confronted by doll-like German soldiers, who taunt him for wearing women’s shoes. The Germans threaten to emasculate him, but are killed by a group of doll-like women who come to the pilot’s rescue and protect him.

It is revealed that the scenario is part of an elaborate fantasy created by Mark Hogancamp, using modified fashion dolls in a model village named Marwen. Mark imagines that the dolls are alive and photographs his fantasies to help him cope with acute memory loss and posttraumatic stress disorder from a brutal attack he suffered some time earlier, when he drunkenly told a group of white supremacists about his fetish for wearing women’s shoes. The dolls correspond to people that he knows in real life: himself as “Cap’n Hogie”, the pilot; various female friends as his protectors; and his attackers as German Nazi soldiers. A green-haired doll named Dejah Thoris is a Belgian Witch who prevents Cap’n Hogie from becoming too close with any woman.

Mark finally agrees to appear in court to deliver a victim impact statement after much coaxing from his attorney and friends, but upon seeing his attackers, he imagines them as Nazi soldiers shooting at him, and becomes terrified and flees, causing Judge Martha J. Harter to postpone the hearing.

Mark falls in love with a woman named Nicol who has just moved in across the street, whom he has added to his fantasy. Mark imagines that the doll Nicol is in love with Cap’n Hogie, and that they get married. In real life, Mark proposes marriage to Nicol, who tells him she wishes to remain only friends. Mark is distraught and contemplates suicide. In his fantasies, Nicol is shot by a Nazi, who in turn is killed by Cap’n Hogie but brought back to life, along with other Nazi soldiers, by Deja Thoris. Cap’n Hogie realizes that Deja Thoris is a Nazi spy, and Mark realizes that the pills that he thought were helping him were actually hurting him. Mark pours the pills down the sink and vows to break his addiction to them.

Mark attends the rescheduled hearing and delivers his statement. That evening Mark attends the exhibition of his work and makes a date with his friend Roberta, who is a sales clerk at the hobby store where he is a frequent customer. The film ends with a photograph of the real Mark Hogancamp, who has a successful career as a photographer.

Cast

Most of the cast appears both as characters in the “real world”, and as characters in the Marwen world that Mark created, using motion-capture and lending their voice for the animated character.

Actor Real World Character
(Live Action) Marwen Character
(Voice and Motion-Capture)
Steve Carell Mark Hogancamp, an aspiring artist who was beaten nearly to death by five men for expressing his fetish for women’s shoes, and creates a miniature village called Marwen (later called Marwencol). Cap’n Hogie, a heroic pilot.
Leslie Mann Nicol, Mark’s new neighbor. A new addition to the village who starts a romance with Hogie.
Diane Kruger Deja Thoris, the Belgian Witch of Marwen who curses Hogie and is secretly a Nazi spy.
Merritt Wever Roberta, a kind friend of Mark who works at the hobby shop where he buys the models and toy figurines he uses to build Marwen. A member of Hogie’s team who uses heavy artillery.
Janelle Monáe Julie, a social worker who befriends Mark while in rehab. G.I. Julie, a veteran in Hogi’s team.
Eiza González Carlala, Mark’s friend at the bar where he has a part-time job. A member of Hogi’s team who drives their jeep.
Gwendoline Christie Anna, Mark’s Russian caretaker. A Soviet member of Hogi’s team.
Leslie Zemeckis Suzette, Mark’s favorite actress. A French member of Hogi’s team.
Siobhan Williams Elsa, a French milkmaid who Hogie saves. He brings her into his team, but she is soon killed by a Nazi.
Neil Jackson Kurt, Nicol’s rough and poorly mannered ex-boyfriend. Kurt believes Mark is a white supremacist pedophile after seeing a Nazi soldier doll in the Marwen scene in Mark’s front yard. Major Meyer, a member of the Schutzstaffel in Marwen.
Falk Hentschel Louis, one of the white supremacists that assaulted Mark. Hauptsturmführer Ludwig Topf, Deja Thoris’s henchman in Marwen and a Nazi commander.
Matt O’Leary Carl, one of the white supremacists that assaulted Mark. Lt. Benz, a Nazi soldier in Marwen.
Nikolai Witschl Rudy, one of the white supremacists that assaulted Mark. Rudolph, a Nazi soldier in Marwen.
Patrick Roccas Stevie, one of the white supremacists that assaulted Mark. Stefan, a Nazi soldier in Marwen.
Alexander Lowe Vern, one of the white supremacists that assaulted Mark. Werner, a Nazi soldier in Marwen.
Eric Keenleyside Larry, Mark’s friend. A Marwen Friar.
Stefanie von Pfetten Wendy, a woman who worked at the bar and found Mark after he had been beaten. Mark named MARWEN by combining the names MARk and WENdy.
(Wendy does not appear in the film in the “real world”, only referenced.) Wendy, a woman who once saved Cap’n Hogie, but has been gone from Marwen.
Conrad Coates Demaryius Johnson, Mark’s attorney.
Veena Sood Judge Martha J. Harter, the judge who oversees the hearing of the white supremacists who attacked Mark.
Ulster County Sheriffs portrayed by Fraser Aitcheson, Trevor Jones, Brad Kelly, Jeff Sanca, and Patrick Sabongui.