In the Realms of the Unreal (2004)

A documentary on Henry Darger, visionary artist, janitor, and novelist.

Director:

Jessica Yu

Writers:

Henry Darger (writings), Jessica Yu

Stars:

Larry Pine, Dakota Fanning, Frier McCollister

Nominated for 1 Primetime Emmy. Another 2 wins & 5 nominations.

Cast

Credited cast:
Larry Pine	...	Henry Darger (voice)
Dakota Fanning	...	Narrator / Vivian Girls (voice)
Frier McCollister	...	Additional Voice (voice)
Wally Wingert	...	Additional Voice (voice)
Janice Hong	...	Additional Voice (voice)
Ruby McCollister	...	Additional Voice (voice)
Paul Robert Langdon	...	Additional Voice (voice)
Mary O'Donnell	...	Herself - Neighbor
Kiyoko Lerner	...	Herself - Landlady
Mary Rooney	...	Herself - Parish Bookkeeper
David Berglund	...	Himself - Neighbor
Regina Waters	...	Herself - Neighbor
Mark Waters	...	Himself - Neighbor
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Henry Darger	...	Himself (photos)

Storyline

Henry Darger worked all his life in menial jobs in Chicago. Living alone and in poverty, he had no friends or close family. Spending all his off hours alone, he whiled away the hours working on a 15,000 page illustrated novel called The Realms of the Unreal. A stunning amalgam of religious imagery, fantasy, and heroic drama, the work was only discovered after Darger was moved to a hospital during the last days of his life. Darger also wrote journals and an autobiography. The documentary uses interviews with Darger's neighbors and narration of passages from his works, along with his illustrations, to explore the mind and work of Henry Darger.

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Plot Keywords:

poverty | artist | novel | janitor | art | 

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Genres:

Documentary | Biography

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Certificate:

Unrated

Details

Official Sites:

Diorama Films PBS [us]

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

29 March 2008 (Japan)

Also Known As:

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

Filming Locations:

Chicago, Illinois, USA

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

$15,477 (USA) (24 December 2004)

Gross:

$413,708 (USA) (10 June 2005)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Cherry Sky Films, Diorama Films, Independent Television Service (ITVS)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

81 min

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Quotes

[last lines]
[end title cards]
Title Card: After Darger's death in 1973, the Lerners decided to share their discovery of his work, preserving his room and its contents.
Title Card: Since then, Henry Darger's work has been exhibited and collected worldwide. His art has inspired the creation of paintings, poetry, music, and works in theatre, dance, and opera.
Title Card: The room was dismantled in 2000.

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Soundtracks

"Innocent When You Dream (78)"
Written by Tom Waits
Used by permission of Jalma Music (ASCAP)

User Reviews

Still at a Distance

Henry Darger was a janitor. He lived in one room. He cleaned a Catholic hospital for fifty years, and then died with a 15,000 page manuscript and yards and yards of artwork, unknown and unpublished, in his room. You can find out more about Henry Darger and his life work, chronicling the adventures of "The Vivian Girls" at the Henry Darger entry on Wikipedia.

"In the Realms of the Unreal" is a documentary about his life. The narrative comes through a few different sources: There are interviews with those who knew of Darger in his last days, including the landlords who discovered his work. There is an old man's voice reading Darger's autobiography. There are pieces of Darger's novel. Then there is a narrator who is about 5 years old, providing a little summary and connectivity now and then. The visuals behind the readings are sometimes photos of relevant locations, like the state farm where Darger spent his late childhood, or the hospital where he worked most of his life. Sometimes they are stills or animations of Darger's artwork.

The life of Henry Darger is fascinating. It's especially intriguing to think that there are people around us who are silently, secretly living these incredibly rich and complicated internal lives. It's sad that Darger was never "discovered," but even that sadness is complicated. I'm not sure what the world would have done with him, had we known what he was about. His was not the type of art that's comfortable to package and sell. Hard to contemplate a lonely old man drawing pictures of naked children, unless you put it in the context of his whole life. Not easy to reduce to a few key words.

The movie was kind of distancing. I came away knowing more about Darger but I felt unsatisfied somehow, like some primary source had been held back, like everything had been too filtered, too disjointed. Maybe it just goes with the subject matter -- Darger was a recluse, not open to interpretation or summary. The most meaningful parts to me were the pieces read from his autobiography. It was surprisingly kind, chatty, a bit apologetic, and patient. No bitterness. No angst. Isn't that strange.