In the Realms of the Unreal (2004)
A few days after seeing "Dig!" which
took me into the mind of mad genius and Brian Jonestown
Massacre frontman Anton Newcombe, I saw "In the Realms
of the Unreal," which took me into the mind of another
insane artist, Henry Darger. These two films were
quite an interesting pair, each taking you on a trip
into the mind of an monumental and yet somewhat obscure
artist and seemingly allowing you to understand them
from the inside out.
Darger was a Catholic janitor who
barely scraped by on his meager wages and lived a
hermetic life in his one room apartment in Chicago
until his death in 1972. Upon his passing, acquaintances
and his landlord found a plethora of Darger's personal
artistic output including several watercolors and
a 15,000 page manuscript for a fantastic novel called
"In the Realms of the Unreal." Since his death, Darger
has become a cult celebrity and celebrated artist
due to the exposure of his private output to the public.
In the vast majority of this documentary,
filmmaker Jessica Yu gives us fantastic insight in
Darger's childhood and adult life and shows us the
parallels to his existence that made their way into
his novel and his artwork. While we are lead easily
into these correlates, there is much left unspoken,
allowing the viewer to assume many things and provide
their own psychological insight into Darger's work,
allowing for their own interpretations of his mindset.
With innocence, children, religion, war, pseudo-sexuality,
sexual ambiguity, art and fantasy all at play here,
there is enough material to provide even the most
timid viewer much fodder to ponder upon.
The most compelling moments of the
film come from the reading of Darger's novel. Delivered
in a sort of 30's radio broadcast style by Larry Pine,
much in the style in which Darger wrote, his prose
come to life and have an intensity and command that
force us to consider their meaning and their impetus.
Also of note are the interviews with Darger's friends
and acquaintances which allow us to see others' perception
of the reclusive artist. Yu creates a marvelous vision
of Darger by first allowing her subjects to all agree
on many aspects of the hermit and then later showing
how their interpretations of the man could also differ.
By letting us hear a succession of his friend's ideas,
she paints a picture of the artist that brings him
to life for us via the words of those who knew him.
Less successful is the use of Dakota
Fanning as a narrator of sorts here. While Darger's
work is deeply concerned with innocent young girls,
Fanning's appearance here seems more designed to gain
cache by using a celebrity than to provide the voice
of innocence and angelic substance that is depicted
in the artist's work. Fanning, who sounds like she's
suffering from a cold in the nose as she narrates
here, only serves to distract.
Still, nothing could negate the
power and the complexity of Darger's work. Everyone
will walk away from the film with their own ideas
and interpretations of the subject and his work. Art
is supposed to be something that makes you think and
something that impacts you deeply. "In the Realms
of the Unreal," the film and the novel with its myriad
watercolors and drawings are both great works of art.
With this documentary, the power of film is once again
exposed to us. Here we are allowed to enter Darger's
world and to delve deep into his mind and psyche.
"In the Realms of the Unreal" transports you into
Darger's life, his one-room heretic world and, most
importantly, into his mind. It's a cinematic trip
unlike any other that you have ever taken.
Notes:
Viewed at the Dobie in February
2005 with my friend Johnny Oh! on his 29th (cough
cough) birthday.
