Review of In the Realms of the Unreal (2004) by Patrick G — 28 Nov 2008
In the Realms of the Unreal is the story of Henry Darger, janitor by day and artistic visionary by night. From about 1909 to 1971 he composed a ~19,000 page novel detailing the ongoing struggles between the Christian forces as led by the Vivian Girls and the child-hating, Confederate army mimicking Glandelinians.
He also painted and drafted thousands of illustrations to accompany the novel. One of the amazing parts of the story is that Darger actually wrote an ending to the piece. In fact, he drafted two endings.
The film interweaves text from Darger's novel and autobiography with comments by the few neighbors who knew him - it becomes clear early on that no one really knew Henry Darger. The visuals include Darger's illustrations.
His art work is stunning. He used a variety of methods to allow for the use of repetitive images, including sending drawings and newspaper photos out to a photo enlargement center. Some of the illustrations are brilliantly animated by the filmmakers.
In the Realms of the Unreal is an inspirational tale of what equal parts devotion to a project, detachment from the real world, and 60+ years of solitude can yield.
This review of In the Realms of the Unreal (2004) was written by Patrick G on 28 Nov 2008.
In the Realms of the Unreal has generally received positive reviews.
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