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In the Realms of the Unreal
Generally favorable reviews
Based on 20 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 5 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie >
Movie Info
Genre(s): Documentary
Written by: Jessica Yu
Directed by: Jessica Yu
Release Date:
Theatrical: December 22, 2004
DVD: June 21, 2005
Running Time: 81 minutes, Color
Origin: USA
Summary
RATING: Not Rated
Starring Henry Darger, Dakota Fanning (narrator), and Larry Pine
This explores the parallel lives of legendary outsider artist Henry Darger, a reclusive janitor by day and a visionary artist by night. (Diorama Films)
Also On Metacritic
FILM: Protagonist
Also On The Web: Internet Movie Database Official Studio Site Film Forum Profile
What The Critics Said
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
Baltimore Sun Michael Sragow
Darger made art as if the lives of his subjects depended on it. That's how Yu has made her movie.
Read Full Review >Austin Chronicle Marrit Ingman
One need not necessarily appreciate Darger's art to enjoy Yu's sympathetic, intimate, and often breathtaking journey into the workings of his mind.
Read Full Review >TV Guide Ken Fox
The result is an astonishingly complex, striking original portrait of an artist whose deeply personal art, intended for no one but God and himself, demands to be treated on its own terms.
Read Full Review >LA Weekly Chuck Wilson
Yu has transferred to her superb film, the hushed awe she must have felt the day she walked into the room - and, in a sense, the mind - of this strange, singular individual.
Read Full Review >Los Angeles Times Kevin Thomas
Filmmaker Jessica Yu, in In the Realms of the Unreal, outlines Darger's lonely life and interviews Lerner's elegant, sympathetic widow Kiyoko and other Darger neighbors -- highlighted by enchanting animation of some of Darger's exquisite scrolls.
Read Full Review >The Hollywood Reporter Frank Scheck
A fascinating examination of a mysterious life and the truly bizarre art that it spawned.
Read Full Review >The New York Times Dave Kehr
Obscure by nature and unwieldy by design, Darger's work is difficult to confront and consume; Ms. Yu has brought it a little closer, and that is as fine a public service as an art documentary can provide.
Read Full Review >New York Post V.A. Musetto
Yu presents a compelling, somewhat disturbing portrait of the artist, who in 2000 was the subject of a major exhibit that toured the world.
Read Full Review >The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Rick Groen
The film, like its subject, is more adroit with pictures than with words.
Read Full Review >Philadelphia Inquirer Steven Rea
Has an odd magic about it - the magic of Darger's singularly peculiar dreamworld.
Read Full Review >Washington Post Michael O'Sullivan
The path taken by the film is somewhat labyrinthine and obscure, but it offers enough rewards to counterbalance its frustrations.
Read Full Review >Village Voice Ed Park
Jessica Yu's elegant new doc In the Realms of the Unreal is a spry, creative response to his (Darger's) oceanic talent and claustrophobic life.
Read Full Review >Variety Joe Leydon
Documentarian Jessica Yu employs everything from animation and voiceover thesping to archival documents and eyewitness accounts while examining Henry Darger, a self-taught artist who has been posthumously lionized as a visionary genius.
Read Full Review >The Onion (A.V. Club) Noel Murray
In the end, it all gets to be too stifling. The film looks amazing, and there may be no better way to adapt Darger's work to the screen. But Yu's decision to limit the comments on Darger's enduring appeal keeps the audience locked in his cramped room too long, without a window of context.
Read Full Review >New York Daily News Jami Bernard
Even without much in the way of hard facts, Yu makes intuitive leaps, using animated segments to bring to life Darger's work, and therefore the man - or as much of him as it is possible to fathom.
Read Full Review >Chicago Reader J.R. Jones
Yu's portrait of Darger, which clocks in at 82 minutes, skims over the only aspect of his life that commands respect: his craft.
Read Full Review >Chicago Tribune Alan G. Artner
If this documentary were about a serious painter, it would be judged a travesty not unlike commercials that goose up the couple in "American Gothic" or show the Mona Lisa laughing.
Read Full Review >What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this movie is 9.0 (out of 10) based on 5 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
Chad S. gave it an8:
In less artful hands, "In the Realms of the Unreal" could've been hijacked by the need to answer questions about his hermaphodic little girls. This film chooses to be about art. It's your call if you want to discredit his work because he might possibly have been a pedophile if given the chance. If Darger was in any shape or form predatory towards children, his art can be interpreted as an exorcising of inner-demons. As for filmmaker Jessica Yu, her use of multiple narrators to reflect Darger's possible bouts of schizophrenia is very effective, but it's never put to bizarre use so the reclusive artist comes across as crazy. Darger was a very private man and Yu is respectful of this by not outing him as mentally disabled, and/or a pervert. Pervert or not, Darger's art is unique, and the animation sequences that uses takes hiswork as inspiration is more exciting than the most state-of-the-art CGI. It also should be noted that "In the Realms of the Unreal" is the first time the gifted Dakota Fanning isn't the best thing about the films she participates in.
Bay C. gave it a10:
This film is as good as it gets in presenting the mystery of Darger's genius. The filmaker, Jessica Yu, doesn't answer the questions -- which we cannot know. She presents Darger's art in the context of the curiosity of his life. Artists will love this film. Enjoy!
