In the Realms of the Unreal - Palm Beach Post

In the Realms of the Unreal: Troubled man, prolific artist

By HAP ERSTEIN
Palm Beach Post

Some documentaries take on major, global themes, while others, like the remarkable In the Realms of the Unreal, illuminate a single curious life.

If this were a work of fiction, it would be too much to believe, but as related imaginatively by filmmaker Jessica Yu, we can only shake our heads in astonishment at the reclusive world of Henry Darger.

Diorama Films

'In the Realms of the Unreal'

B+

The verdict: A remarkable and hard-to-fathom documentary of a troubled, little-known artist.

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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Official movie site

The facts of his life are few and those who came in contact with him contradict each other on them. The pronunciation of his name should hardly be a matter of controversy, yet there are proponents for both a hard and soft "g."

What is certain is that when this retired janitor died in 1973 in his rented Chicago room, he 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 Yu's film.

The novel and its illustrations would be a psychiatrist's dream, or perhaps nightmare, but Yu prefers to present the work for the moviegoer's approval and puzzlement rather than offer her own analysis of the clearly troubled mind that spawned it.

Still, there are parallels between Darger's difficult childhood and his fantasy-fueled tale.

Thrown out of a Catholic orphanage as a discipline problem, then placed in the Illinois Asylum for Feeble-Minded Children where he apparently was much abused, his life has a modern Dickensian quality. His novel's heroines are the Vivian sisters, a septet of young girls who crusade against an army of child-enslaving men, the leader of which bears the same name of one of Darger's prime childhood adversaries.

Darger was presumably a self-taught artist whose style is drawn from magazine illustrations and children's books. Although his Vivian sisters are usually depicted in the nude, there is little likelihood that they were based on life models, since he gave them each a tiny penis. That too could be a therapist's field day, but it is entirely possible — as one interview subject suggests — that he simply did not know any better.

In any event, much of the film consists of a camera roaming over his colorful drawings, which occasionally come to life through computer animation. Rather than a gimmick, the effect is both visually attractive and a way of taking us inside Darger's head to simulate his visions.

Further 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's nearly hour-and-a-half, Darger remains an enigma, but his art reveals a haunted beauty.