In the Realms of the Unreal - The Mystery of Henry Darger

Description

Henry Darger, an elderly recluse, spent his childhood in Illinois's asylum for feeble-minded children and his adulthood working as a janitor. He lived a quiet, nearly solitary existence, but his imaginary life was exciting, colorful and sexually provocative. When he died in Chicago in 1973, his landlady discovered in his room 300 paintings, some over 10 feet long, and a 15,000-page illustrated novel (The Realms of the Unreal), which told the epic story of the virtuous Vivian Girls leading a child slave revolt against the evil Glandelinians. Featuring Dakota Fanning (Hide and Seek) and Larry Pine (The Royal Tenenbaums) as narrators and imaginative animation of Darger's work, Oscar® winner Jessica Yu (Breathing Lessons) brings to life one of the twentieth century's greatest self-taught artists.

Customer Reviews:

Darger and his dangers.......2007-07-20

I found this biography and exploration of the reclusive artist Henry Darger just a tad "self indulgent". While animating Darger's art was cute and clever, I don't feel it really added anything to the main thrust of the movie. Also, the "darker" theories behind Darger need to make the work he did were outright ignored. Even so, the dvd is an interesting romp through his work. Vicki Stone-artist

In the Realms of the Unreal.......2007-07-20

As director/writer Jessica Yu unfolds this astonishing true story, we are mesmerized, not only by the singular way this man lived, but by the divine, child-like purity of his gift, as over a lifetime he practiced his art for his own fulfillment and enjoyment, sharing it with noone. Rather than join society, or retreat into a miserable isolation, he created his own rich fantasy world, where he could pull the strings. Best of all, on his departure, he left it for us to discover. Fascinating, one-of-a-kind feature shows us the hidden wonder inside one solitary person's time on earth.

Darger Inspires, Film-Maker Not So Much.......2007-06-26

Henry Darger is very inspirational. To characterize his art, as some have, as an offshoot of mental illness is insulting to Darger's legacy. Because he was different, solitary, does not make him mentally ill - he seemed to function as a person, hold a job, etc - why does this make him insane? Choosing solitude should not be considered an illness.

The director took too much liberty in the choice to animate his drawings, and did it badly, to add insult to injury. Underemphasis on the Catholicism is also a problem. I hate to bring it up, but perhaps being Asian might be a slight barrier to fully understanding the Catholic aspect.

The little girl voice is especially irritating, as it sounds like she needs to blow her nose really badly throughout all her narrations. I kept wanting to shout "Hey, somebody get the litte girl a kleenex!"

Henry da Man.......2007-05-14

I feel totally inspired by this documentary about Henry Darger, orphaned and victimized by child-slavery. That he could express his innermost needs thru his personal art and writings, never making art because he desired any sort of admiration from others. I find the story so touching, yet funny that he really didn't realize that little girls don't have penises~~or who knows, maybe he fantasized that they did! His art was his own and nobody else's. For those of us who have felt such intense isolation from others, here is a hero!

Unreal world? Or was Henry Darger an Ultra-Realist?.......2007-04-13

This is a fascinating film of one of the 20th Centuries most important artists: Henry Darger. Filmmaker Jessica Yu had some hard choices to make, but presents a Darger self portrait, an observers portrait, and partial exploration of Darger's interior world in the film's three narrative veins.

My own criticism, and this is frankly a minor quibble, is that too little is made of Darger's Catholicism. Henry Darger assisted (read: attended) at Mass sometimes five times a day, this in addition to his life's work, and his job, and his weather observations. Too little is made of this dimension of Darger's self-construct and in the way others saw him.

But this is a forgivable flaw. Jessica Yu's portrait is an excellent first approximation of a fascinating artist and man, and her film invokes the lesson amplified by Walker Percy and commanded by the Church: there is an infinity in any human soul. May we meet Henry Darger in paradise now that we have been given the grace to see his interior world this side of the veil.

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