Utterly lovely.
Added 7/28/2009
In the Realms of the Unreal (Jessica Yu, 2004)
Rising star Jessica Yu has been making a name for herself in the television world, directing episodes of such shows as The West Wing and Grey's Anatomy. She does enter the feature-film world every once in a while, though, and for that we should all be thankful. Here she didn't really need to do too much; when you've got a subject so intrinsically fascinating as the late janitor/artist Henry Darger, all you have to do is not screw up. That said, the difference between a director who simply doesn't screw up and an accomplished documentary filmmaker is ineffable, at least to me, but I know it when I see it; Frederick Wiseman and Errol Morris (usually) can make anything interesting. I mean, come on, you have to be a genius to make a documentary called Public Housing and have it be gripping. Yu has a far more interesting subject, which makes it tougher to tell whether she's got the goods. I understand some of the controversy surrounding the film, but after watching it, I firmly believe she does. She could make a documentary about the most boring public figure in America (I'll leave you to fill in that blank yourself) and it'd be awesome.
Henry Darger is not that person. His story is interesting enough on its own--a lifelong janitor who labored on a piece of art spanning many thousands of pages in secret--but when you combine it with that piece of art, wow. It's obvious that an artist's particular neuroses are encapsulated, and often emphasized, in that artist's work, and Darger was a guy with a whole lot of neuroses. He poured them out into an alternate universe that's not like anything you've ever seen before.
And that, in most cases, seems to be the problem. The world Darger created, according to many critics of both the man and the documentary, shows unequivocally that Darger was a pedophile and a rapist. (Much of the controversy surrounding the documentary, ironically, seems to stem from Yu's adoption of the more conventional viewpoint that Darger was slow--possibly autistic--and that his views on young women were innocent, childlike.) To me, the controversy itself is more than enough reason to check this out, so you have at least some sort of base to form your own opinion. (It should go without saying given the reaction to the film that Yu does not downplay the controversial bits. As always, they're the most fascinating.) But the way in which the documentary is made is fascinating as well. There are a lot of people who don't like it, because some of the conventions Yu uses are things you see in, for example, historic center videos. I think those people are missing the vast difference in artistry here; this is what would happen if you contracted a top-level B-list director to make your historic center video.
I loved this. I may be in the minority on that, but I highly recommend it for anyone with even a casual interest in Darger, and even those who have never heard of the guy before. His story is either inspirational or horrifying, depending on your interpretation, and that alone is interesting enough to make him worth your while. Pick it up. ****
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Nice to see such an attentively made introduction to such a bizarre outsider figure
Added 5/2/2009
IN THE REALMS OF THE UNREAL is a 2004 documentary film by Jessica Yu introducing the life and work of Henry Darger. A major figure of "outsider art", Darger's work was only discovered after his death when his landlords found thousands of pages of text and paintings in his room. Through his long life, he was known to his few friends and associates only as a janitor in a local hospital. Secretly, he wrote a massive manuscript chronicling the rebellion of girl slaves in a fantasy world, painted with watercolors of the heroines and battles.
Yu has chosen three main narrators for the documentary. A little girl (Dakota Fanning, even) narrates Darger's biographical facts, while excerpts from Darger's autobiography are reads by an old man (Larry Pine), and texts from his fantasy epic are read by some fellow with a radio play delivery. In addition, we find interviews with people who knew Darger. Kiyoko Lerner, his landlady and now the caretaker of his legacy, is of course featured, as are some of his neighbours and an altar boy from his church. While everyone reports him to be an odd fellow, Yu avoids the controversial issue of Darger's mental health, preserving the ambiguity of whether he was mad or a mere eccentric. Similarly, the relation of Darger's work to sexual frustrations or the possibility of sexual abuse as a child are left out. But this is a mere introduction, and it's reasonable to expect the viewer to move on to other sources for contentious matters. My only real complaint is that Yu is not always content to let Darger's paintings speak for themselves. Rather, she has animated certain of Darger's scenes, which I feel distorts the paintings to a degree. While I think the film does not deserve a one-star rating for this as another reviewer awarded it, it is troubling.
Nonetheless, all in all this is a fine presentation of a remarkable figure. And if Darger's intrigues you, I'd recommend also discovering Adolf Wolfli, a Swiss madman whose life and work resembles Darger in several years.
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This film provides great insight and compassion for Henry Darger
Added 2/18/2009
This video is a must for any admirer of Henry Darger's artwork. The combination of interviews with those who knew Darger, the narration by actress Dakota Fanning as the Vivian girls and the animations of Darger's drawings/collages provided insight into Henry Darger's mind and creative motivations.
Most videos about artists bore me because they are too reverent and put the artist on a pedestal unattainable by us mere mortals. Almost invariably some art historian or curator will attempt a too facile linear connection between the artist's inner creative life and the outward events/experiences of that life.
This is one of the best films about an artist I've ever seen. Jessuca Yu is compassionate about her subject without pitying him.
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One of my favorites
Added 12/9/2008
Ranks up there with "Here Is Always Somewhere Else: The disappearance of Bas Jan Ader" and "How To Draw a Bunny." One of my favorite documentaries about art.
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good movie
Added 8/23/2008
well made and beautiful crafted documentary film on henry darger, really puts you into his work from inside 4 stars!!!
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