In the Realms of the Unreal
On the advice of my barber a few weeks ago, I added the film “In the Realms of the Unreal” to my Netflix queue, and it arrived a few days ago. I popped it in tonight, prepared for something unique, and that’s exactly what I got.
The film is essentially a documentary about artist and recluse Henry Darger, who gained posthumous notoriety for his maniacally rich drawings and paintings that illustrated his 15,000 page manuscript, titled similarly briefly, The Story of the Vivian Girls, in what is Known as the Realms of the Unreal, of the Glandeco-Angelinian War Storm, Caused by the Child Slave Rebellion. I say “essentially,” because Darger’s diaries and novel are brought to life by actors, and the narrator is child actress Dakota Fanning, an interesting choice given Darger’s fascination with young girls. I won’t elaborate on that except to say, it’s not what you’re thinking - Darger’s obsession is much more complicated than simple pedophilia, and not nearly as evil. Watch the film and see for yourself.
Darger’s work was intensely personal, drawing on his life as a devout Catholic, upbringing in an orphanage, and characters based on people he encountered in his real life. He was untrained as an artist, and used tracings and photographic reproductions to create huge watercolor paintings that illustrated his story about the battle for good and evil in an other world - this realm of the unreal.
A very interesting portrait, sad and beautiful at the same time, magically animated by talented filmmaker Jessica Yu. Well worth watching.
Darger’s paintings are now for sale by Chicago’s Hammer Gallery.