“In the Realms of the Unreal” (Directed by Jessica Yu, 2004)

There are many unsung heroes of Chicago, such as outsider-artist Henry Darger. For those that are unfamiliar with Darger’s work, he would take old coloring books and illustrations and trace, paste, or copy pictures to make a collage on a 10 foot long piece of paper. Many of his illustration are colorful and filled with whimsy, but some of his illustration can be morbid, disturbing, and very controversial. Because Darger was very much a recluse, he had no intentions or interests in the real world. He would create his own world called The Realms of the Unreal. This novel has up to 15,000 pages of Darger’s illustrations and texts and was discovered by his landlord only a few days before Darger’s death in 1973 (he was 81 years old).

Not too much is known about Darger’s life because of his reclusive lifestyle. But in this biographical documentary director, Jessica Yu, shows the life of Henry Darger in three different ways. One is through Darger’s autobiography that Darger wrote, with ghostlike narrations read by actor Larry Pine. His autobiography shows the hardships that Darger dealt with while growing up, his views of the Catholic religion, and the symbolism behind his illustrations and stories. Second is through the very few people that knew Darger, such as neighbors and previous landlords. Third is through the illustrations that Darger drew in his books The Realms of the Unreal and The Vivian Girls. Dakota Fanning narrates through the illustrations and other parts of the film as though she is one of The Vivian Girls. The segments that show the illustrations are computer animated, giving the animations a choppy and cheesy look.

This is the only flaw of the film. Everything else is astonishing; the interviews given to the few people who experienced Darger’s presence are answered with detailed information on Darger’s attitude and living. Yu’s way of showing how society viewed Darger as a whole is a lonesome story, throughout the film you have a lot of sympathy towards Darger and truly see why he shunned society. The narrations given by Larry Pine and Dakota Fanning are spine tingling, giving the film a very eerie and isolated vibe. Another thing that makes this film stand out is the use of Darger’s illustrations compared with the events that happened to him in his life. The film has a real nice flow to it, and transitions well into each different perspective of the viewers. Interviewees in the film constantly say, “Henry’s only audience was himself.” “In the Realms of the Unreal” is a great movie that will truly make you see the passion, beauty, and charm in Henry Darger’s art, just the way Henry saw it himself.