In the Realms of the Unreal (2004)

User Rating:

7.4/10   

Director:

Jessica Yu

Writers:

Henry Darger (writings)
Jessica Yu (writer)

Release Date:

29 March 2008 (Japan)

Genre:

Documentary | Biography

Plot:

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

Plot Keywords:

Poverty | Artist | Novel | Janitor | Art

Awards:

Nominated for Primetime Emmy. Another 2 wins & 4 nominations

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)

Directed by
Jessica Yu

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Henry Darger		writings
Jessica Yu		writer

Produced by
Ellin Baumel	....	line producer
Karen Carter	....	associate producer
Sally Jo Fifer	....	executive producer
Joan Huang	....	co-producer
Cara Mertes	....	executive producer
Kara Vallow	....	animation producer
Susan West	....	producer
Jessica Yu	....	producer

Original Music by
Jeff Beal

Film Editing by
Jessica Yu

Casting by
Linda Lamontagne

Art Department
Henry Darger	....	artwork
Eric Koenig	....	storyboard artist
Aurian Redson	....	storyboard artist

Sound Department
Jeff Beal	....	sound recordist: Many Rooms Music
Stephanie Brown	....	supervising sound editor
Rick Ellis	....	sound recording engineer
Paul Hackner	....	re-recording engineer
Matt Hedges	....	sound facility coordinator
Matthew Iadarola	....	sound re-recording mixer
Eddie Kim	....	sound designer
Tomas Marsh	....	sound recording engineer
Del Martin	....	re-recording engineer
Eryne Prine	....	foley supervisor
Matt Hedges	....	sound editorial coordinator (uncredited)
Eryne Prine	....	sound editor (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Michael F. Barrow	....	cinematographer: New York (as Michael Barrow)
Tim Bieber	....	director of photography: Chicago
Lamar Bloodworth	....	gaffer
Joe Brady	....	assistant camera
Osa Elmfors	....	assistant camera
Ron Forsythe	....	key grip
Bill Frye	....	grip
Marlene Haegele	....	second assistant camera
Shana Hagan	....	director of photography: Los Angeles
T.S. Hale	....	grip
Russell Harper	....	director of photography: Chicago
Wesley Hicks	....	additional camera operator
Darren Kasmir	....	gaffer
Harry Lapham	....	key grip
Juliet Lofaro	....	still photographer
Guy Moeller	....	grip
Ryan Puckett	....	grip

Animation Department
Andrew Brandou	....	animator
Britt Ehringer	....	animator
Peter Ehrlich	....	animator
Matthew Gadbois	....	animator
Meher Gourjian	....	animator
Tom Kanchanapinyokul	....	animator
Eric Koenig	....	animation storyboard artist
Aurian Redson	....	animation storyboard artist
David Wigforss	....	animator

Editorial Department
Michael Mintz	....	color corrector
Thom Whitehead	....	on-line editor

Music Department
Joan Beal	....	conductor: choir

Other crew
Bill Abrams	....	legal counsel: Abrams, Garfinkel & Rosen LLP
David Beall	....	cleanup artist
David Berglund	....	photos of Henry Darger courtesy of
Scott Marvel Cassidy	....	book art sequences
Denise Chavez	....	cleanup artist
Cynthia DeLaney Gorman	....	marketing and sales
Jake Delman	....	production assistant
Amy Dorn	....	production assistant
Ron Forsythe	....	researcher
Tony Haske	....	production assistant
Rachel Katz-Atkin	....	production assistant
Kiyoko Lerner	....	Henry Darger's artwork and writings used by permission of
Kiyoko Lerner	....	consultant
Kiyoko Lerner	....	photos of Henry Darger courtesy of
Erik Lusk	....	cleanup artist
Lisa Masseur	....	production assistant
Mark Masseur	....	production assistant
Rodd Miller	....	cleanup artist
Christopher Nguyen	....	production assistant
Elise Pearlstein	....	researcher
Katherine Pitts	....	operations manager
Larry Powell	....	production assistant
Andrea Sausen	....	production assistant
Kris Scheiffele	....	researcher
Armando Soto	....	cleanup artist
Joe Vaux	....	cleanup artist
Chris Ware	....	title art
Thom Whitehead	....	digital transfers
Martin Yu	....	animated website

Thanks
Brooke Anderson	....	thanks
David Berglund	....	special thanks
Karen Carter	....	thanks
Loretta Janeski	....	thanks
Dao Le	....	thanks
Kiyoko Lerner	....	special thanks
Claudine Magre	....	thanks
David Obermeyer	....	thanks
Mary O'Donnell	....	special thanks
Mary Rooney	....	special thanks
Ted Shen	....	thanks
Trixie	....	thanks
Marc Waters	....	special thanks
Regina Waters	....	special thanks
Sydney Wilkinson	....	thanks

Production Companies

• Cherry Sky Films
• Diorama Films
• Independent Television Service (ITVS) (in association with)

Distributors

• Mongrel Media (2004) (Canada) (theatrical)
• Wellspring Media (2004) (USA) (theatrical)
• Wellspring Media (2005) (USA) (DVD)

Other Companies

• Alexian Brothers  other photos courtesy of
• Chapin Hall Center, University of Chicago  other photos courtesy of
• Cherry Sky Films  additional funding
• Consolidated Film Industries (CFI)  telecine transfers (as CFI)
• Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB)  funding
• Crest National  thanks
• Danetracks  sound design and mixing
• Lincoln Developmental Center  other photos courtesy of
• MacDonald and Associates  stock footage (as MacDonald & Assoc.)
• MacDowell Colony  thanks (as The MacDowell Colony)
• Matchframe Video  motion control (as Matchframe)
• Mercy Home for Boys & Girls  other photos courtesy of
• Mr. Big Films  also thanks
• Nathan Lerner Foundation  special thanks
• Pair of Hands  online editing and digital transfers
• Rolling Rock Limited  also thanks
• Schumacher Camera  thanks
• Southern Illinois University Edwardsville  other photos courtesy of
• St. Vincent de Paul Parish, Chicago  also thanks
• The Corporation of Yaddo  thanks (as Yaddo Corporation)
• The Folk Art Museum  also thanks
• The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum  additional funding
• The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum  thanks
• Zona Productions  motion control (uncredited)

Also Known As:

In the Realms of the Unreal: The Mystery of Henry Darger (Australia) (DVD title)

Runtime:

81 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Certification:

Singapore:PG | Canada:PG (Ontario) | Australia:M | USA:Unrated

Filming Locations:

Chicago, Illinois, USA

Company:

Cherry Sky Films

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.

Soundtrack:

Flash Pan Hunter (Intro)

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.