Have You Seen This Movie?

In the Realms of the Unreal is a film about the life, the artwork, and writings of Henry Darger, a reclusive janitor who wrote and illustrated a 15,000-page book chronicling his creation: the Vivian girls, heroine sisters fighting in what can simply be described as the battle of good against evil. Darger worked on this project for over 60 years and told no one about it. It was only discovered by his landlady after he'd been moved to a catholic mission (where he would later die), indigent and elderly.

The subject matter of the film is incredibly grim as it concerns a person who was effectively abandoned by his family, who then becomes a recluse after a stay at a psychiatric hospital for children, and who may or may not have been schizophrenic. I felt like the details of his life, which I can imagine were difficult to piece together about a person who left only three photographs of himself behind and who had no family, were glossed over and dealt with a bit too hastily. I did like how the filmmaker didn't speak to the question or whether or not Darger was insane, and that she didn't psychoanalyze his work, which must have been tempting since a lot of the illustrations are of little naked girls drawn inexplicably with penises... Had Darger never encountered a sexuality other than his own?

What's done well in the film is how the artwork of In the Realms of the Unreal is animated in a very delicate, thoughtful way--something I thought could have been disastrous. His processes are also described well: Since he was extremely poor his entire life, he improvised both art techniques and the medium he used. The filmmaker notes that he would create ad hoc canvases out of old phonebooks.

That said, I have to admit that the theater was really warm and I was feeling like I was coming down with something, and so, I slept just the tiniest bit during this movie. So, believe me or don't.