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In the Realms of the Unreal

by Paul Kieper — last modified 2010-01-25 00:07

Watched this documentary today about a janitor (Henry Darger) who had written a 15,143-page novel (accompanied by hundreds of illustrations, sometimes up to six feet in length, which was only discovered after his death. The title of this unpublished work is The Story of the Vivian Girls, in What is Known as the Realms of the Unreal, of the Glandeco-Angelinnian War Storm, Caused by the Child Slave Rebellion. While the film's subject is astounding and intriguing, it could also be equal parts disturbing, bizarre, and just plain sad. Here was a man who was sent to an asylum as a child, lived his adulthood as a recluse, and never really left the strange world in his mind to make any connection to the world outside his one-room Chicago apartment.

The style of the documentary is interesting in that the filmmaker has used many of Darger's original illustrations to create animated sequences that are used heavily throughout the film.

Underwhelmed & Impressed?

Posted by roblicalsi at 2010-01-25 14:02

I watched this movie like a year ago after eagerly anticipating it FOREVER! I had seen the trailer and couldn't wait to watch the movie. While I was quite impressed with what they uncovered, I couldn't help but feel like it never lived up to its hype.

Like...I half expected to uncover this insane tomb of work WITH the filmmakers, rather than just be presented with it afterwards. It seemed like a modern day Egyptian Pharaoh discovery of wealth but was actually just on crazy old man's life work.

But I am still amazed that someone could live an entire life both in the real world and solely in their own head. Its the sort of thing comic books are made out of.

Unrelated Note

Posted by roblicalsi at 2010-01-25 14:04

If you want to watch an INSANELY AMAZING, COMPLETELY HEART WRENCHING, SAD AND DISTURBING documentary, go check out "Dear Zachary". It was my favorite doc of last year and its so mind blowing and sad...but at the same time somewhat uplifting...that I can't believe it hasn't become a cultural phenomenon. Highly, HIGHLY recommended!

Instant Gratification

Posted by rlguild at 2010-01-25 15:00

Yay! Dear Zachary is a Netflix Watch Instantly. It's been added. I know what you mean about Darger's space/tomb. We needed more bits on his actual goodies and uncovering them, and less of Dakota Fanning's voice.

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In the Realms of the Unreal

Underwhelmed & Impressed?

Unrelated Note

Instant Gratification