I’ve been meaning to watch the documentary Marwencol forever. Though I am late to the party, stepping over spilled beer, chip crumbs, and unrecognizable refuse, I can still say it was memorable. I’ll simply offer Marwencol praise, recommend it to you, dear reader, and whet your appetite:
On April 8, 2000, Mark Hogancamp was attacked outside of a bar by five men who beat him nearly to death. After nine days in a coma and forty days in the hospital, Mark was discharged with brain damage that left him little memory of his previous life. Unable to afford therapy, Mark creates his own by building a 1/6-scale World War II-era Belgian town in his yard and populating it with dolls representing himself, his friends, and even his attackers. He calls that town “Marwencol,” a portmanteau of the names “Mark,” “Wendy” and “Colleen.” He rehabilitates his physical wounds by manipulating the small dolls and props — and his mental ones by having the figures act out various battles and stories.
Friends of P 