In the Realms of the Unreal (film)
| In the Realms of the Unreal | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Jessica Yu |
| Written by | Jessica Yu |
| Produced by | Susan West Joan Huang |
| Starring | Larry Pine Frier McCollister Wally Wingert Janice Hong |
| Narrated by | Dakota Fanning |
| Cinematography | Russell Harper |
| Edited by | Jessica Yu |
| Music by | Jeff Beal |
| Distributed by | Forward Entertainment Mongrel Media Wellspring Media |
Release date |
|
Running time | 81 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
In the Realms of the Unreal is a 2004 American documentary film written and directed by Jessica Yu about American outsider artist Henry Darger (1892–1973).[1][2][3]
Summary
An obscure janitor during his life, Henry Darger is known for the posthumous discovery of his elaborate 15,145-page fantasy manuscript entitled 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, along with several hundred watercolor paintings, collages and other drawings illustrating the story.[4][5][6]
Content
The film's style is atypical of a documentary. Because there are only three known photographs of Darger, and because of his reclusive lifestyle, the film is mostly a narrated biographical account, accompanied by animated versions of events from his magnum opus, which is also surveyed in detail. Interviews with his few neighbors and other acquaintances are included. The film's narrator Dakota Fanning was seven years old when she narrated the film.[7][8][9]
Reception
The film has a 70% rating on Rotten Tomatoes and a score of 74 on Metacritic.[10][11]
Accolades
The film won the National Film Board Award for Best Documentary at the 2004 Vancouver International Film Festival[12] while it was also nominated for Best Documentary Screenplay from the Writers Guild of America and a Gotham Award for Best Documentary.[13][14][15]
References
- ^ Gleiberman, Owen. "In the Realms of the Unreal". EW.com. Retrieved November 25, 2025.
- ^ "In the Realms of the Unreal: The Mystery of Henry Darger by Jessica Yu". HuffPost. June 14, 2011. Archived from the original on September 18, 2025. Retrieved November 25, 2025.
- ^ "'Unreal' and unrevealing". Los Angeles Times. January 21, 2005. Retrieved November 25, 2025.
- ^ "Treasures from the Yale Film Archive: IN THE REALMS OF THE UNREAL | Yale University Library". web.library.yale.edu. Retrieved November 25, 2025.
- ^ "The Fantasy World of a Mysterious Artist". New York Times. December 22, 2004. Retrieved November 25, 2025.
- ^ "'In the Realms' of an Outsider". The Washington Post. February 4, 2005. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved November 25, 2025.
- ^ Feinberg, Lexi (May 27, 2016). "In The Realms Of The Unreal". Cinemablend. Retrieved November 25, 2025.
- ^ Henderson, Eric (December 16, 2004). "Review: In the Realms of the Unreal". Slant Magazine. Retrieved November 25, 2025.
- ^ Vice, Jeff (April 7, 2005). "Film review: In the Realms of the Unreal". Deseret News. Retrieved November 25, 2025.
- ^ "In the Realms of the Unreal | Rotten Tomatoes". www.rottentomatoes.com. Retrieved November 25, 2025.
- ^ "In the Realms of the Unreal Reviews". www.metacritic.com. Retrieved November 25, 2025.
- ^ "Wellspring Announces Deal for Oscar Contender "In The Realms of the Unreal"". IndieWire. November 17, 2004. Retrieved November 25, 2025.
- ^ "2004 Winners and nominees". Gotham Independent Film Awards. Archived from the original on February 19, 2017. Retrieved January 1, 2018.
- ^ "WGA serves up 1st doc kudo to 'Super'". variety.com. Variety. February 15, 2005. Retrieved February 18, 2019.
- ^ Mohr, Ian (November 10, 2004). "Gotham Awards laud best indie features". Variety. Retrieved November 25, 2025.
External links
- In the Realms of the Unreal Archived 2009-05-06 at the Wayback Machine at PBS.org
- In the Realms of the Unreal at IMDb