In the Realms of the Unreal (2004)
The Mystery of Henry Darger
Director: Jessica Yu · Writer: Jessica Yu
In the Realms of the Unreal is a documentary about the reclusive Chicago-based artist Henry Darger. Henry Darger was so reclusive that when he died his neighbors were surprised to find a 15,145-page manuscript along with hundreds of paintings depicting The Story of the Vivian Girls, in What is Known as the Realms of the Unreal, of the Glodeco-Angelinnian War Storm, Cased by the Child Slave Rebellion.
Trailer
Director
Jessica Yu
Cast
Henry Darger
Himself 
Larry Pine
Henry Darger (Voice) 
Dakota Fanning
Narrator/Vivian Girls (Voice) 
Frier McCollister
Voice 
Wally Wingert
Voice
Mary O'Donnell
Herself (Neighbor)
Kiyoko Lerner
Herself (Landlady) User Reviews (1)
This 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 l…
