Welcome To Marwen: Hidden Depths

If you include the mini episode that was originally recorded as a stand alone but later became a part of our Welcome To Marwen episode, this is my third deeper look at Welcome To Marwen. As I was pondering just what I’d write about I realise that there was so much said about the film that it was hard to write something that hadn’t already been touched on. I guess this also goes hand in hand with tackling such an insanely huge body of work as well. I found myself at a loss, so I began to have a look at our past articles and I realised that we tackled some very complex topics, not just relating to film making, while talking about Zemeckis’s films. Here was the “aha” moment when I realised that Zemeckis is a far more complex film maker than I think I’ve given him credit for.  

Previously I had described Zemeckis as a leader, as being versatile as well as being consistent. But even as we discussed his later films and the way it felt as though we were a part of his journey into a more cynical approach to his themes, I had completely missed the complexity in the themes he tackled frequently. Despite whether the themes were filled with wonder or a little touched with cynicism, the complex themes were always there and unashamedly so.

Now it’s highly likely that there are some of you sitting at home and reading this and thinking, “Come on Geoff! How can you be so dang slow?” If that’s the case, I’m sorry. For a slightly (maybe not, come to think of it) intelligent man I can be really slow sometimes. I get there in the end though and that’s the important part.

Today, I’m not going to harp on the this too greatly. You only need to listen and read previous articles to see Zemeckis tackles such a wide array of themes. But it the way in which he doesn’t smack you in the face with them that I love so much. A lot of the time they’re hidden just beneath the surface and after second or third viewing then they become more and more visible.   

If there’s one thing I love about our journey through Robert Zemeckis’s body of work, it’s that he is a layered film maker. Just when I think I won’t learn any more about him, I’m hit with a new revelation. It’s the old onions and layers analogy from Shrek and I freaking love it. What a great choice Zemeckis was for our first season, I hope you’ve loved it too.

Big Love, Yeah

Geoff