Bienvenue à Marwen

Robert Zemeckis in great form. I can't think of another director who could tell such a story with half of it being acting and half animated, and firstly cleverly switching between those forms and then gradually letting them intertwine and influence each other... And to keep it fun and at the same time something more. Very often, Welcome to Marwen has the atmosphere of the Zemeckis films that I fell in love with, from Back to the Future (after all, Marwen is a time machine and yes, it can fly) through Who Framed Roger Rabbit to Forrest Gump. In that case, of course, no one but Alan Silvestri could have composed the music, and also when it rumbles, one remembers with a smile the way things used to be. That the film has such a low rating surprises me. After all, even if the directing games leave you cold, Steve Carell is still 100% fantastic, isn't he? (09/06/2021)

Welcome to Marwen is a family tale through and through, but it doesn’t have much for the adults. The protagonist is someone who shoots at Nazi action-figures and has a kink for women shoes, and the least original and weaker plot line is the one resolved in the most original way. Steve Carrel does what he can and every scene irradiates how much fun Robert Zemeckis is having, so everything looks gorgeous and there’s no doubt that a master of the craft is at work. It’s a pity that the emotions are too mechanical and that the attractions overshadow the power of the narration that we love from the author of so many classics. Even though it doesn’t deserve it, Welcome to Marwen will probably soon be forgotten. (01/04/2019)

I can see why it flopped so terribly (the intersection of themes addressed has virtually no target audience), but I'm actually quite sorry in the context of the director's MO, because you can't deny the frank autobiographical elements and thus actually the acknowledgement of his own vulnerability with someone who was once one of the most powerful people in Hollywood. Even though this is based on a true story. Zemeckis, like Hogancamp, is also not very good at distinguishing reality from fiction. In fact, his digital graveyards of blank faces, with which he has tried to create a warm Christmas atmosphere, are as bizarre a project as Mark's Marwencol. (30/06/2021)

I stared at the opening scenes of the film with absolutely no idea what was going on (I should probably start reading the summaries before watching films). Then I delved into it and in the end I quite enjoyed this weird film. The idea that someone really has to go through something like that is quite depressing. I did like the doll autotherapy, though. It was unexpectedly entertaining and contrasted perfectly with the inevitable melodrama. And Steve Carell has once again shown his excellent acting skills. (11/08/2019)