Seeing reproductions of the paintings by outsider artist Henry Darger just isn't the same as seeing one in person. But watching Jessica Yu's In the Realms of the Unreal is about as close as most people will get to seeing an original.
Yu tells Darger's strange story with Dakota Fanning doing the narration and with animated paintings (in a limited way). Although he produced thousands of pages of his epic illustrated tale, there is only one photo of him. And even at the end of the documentary, he still remains a mystery.
Yu won an Oscar for best short documentary and directed episodes of West Wing and ER as part of a training program producer John Wells started. Yu is currently working on her first narrative feature.
In the Realms of the Unreal is airing on most PBS stations Tuesday night as part of POV. It is also available on DVD.
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Article comments
1 - Chris Beaumont
I am completely unfamiliar with Darger, but I was intrigued when this came to the local indie theater some months ago, but I didn't make it. I'll have to try and catch it.