In the Realms of the Unreal

'In the Realms of the Unreal': Strange, wonderful, discomfiting
by Hap Erstein

Throughout his sad and difficult life, Henry Darger was a cipher. He eked out a living doing menial jobs. Except for attending Mass, he stayed in his one-room Chicago apartment. No family. No friends. Odd and awkward, he could barely carry on a conversation. It was only after he died in 1973, and his landlords went to clean his room, that anyone discovered that he was a remarkable artist. Read the full review

TO SUM UP
A documentary on Henry Darger, a retired janitor who died in 1973 in his rented Chicago room and left behind a trove of artistic expression: hundreds of watercolors and collages, journals, an autobiography and a 15,000-page, typed, single-spaced novel whose title is the same as the film.

FILM FACTS ...

Diorama Films

In the Realms of the Unreal

Director: Jessica Yu
Starring: Henry Darger, Dakota Fanning, Larry Pine
Run time: 81 minutes
Release date: December 22, 2004
Rating: Not rated
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On the web
Official movie site

READ THE REVIEW

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution: B
"Despite its sometimes patronizing attitude toward the man and his work, the film is a revelatory look at (Henry Darger's) life and now highly sought-after art"

Read the full review

The Palm Beach Post: B+
"... adding to the oddity of Darger's child-like world is the choice of young film star Dakota Fanning to narrate the movie, like a surrogate Vivian sister. Throughout the film, Darger remains an enigma, but his art reveals a haunted beauty."