In the Realms of the Unreal (2004)

[hengcs]

The official site is here ...
http://www.realmsoftheunreal.com/

Well, I asked a friend along to watch this movie on a Saturday evening. The cinema had only 5 people, including us. However, half way through, 2 of them walked out. My friend had looked at his watch 3 to 4 times. I felt bad because I recommended the movie. I later asked my friend, and he claimed it was very boring. He seemed to mirror the comments here http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0390123/?fr=c2l0ZT1kZnxteD0yMHxzZz0xfGxtPTIwMHx0dD1vbnxwbj 0wfHE9aW4gdGhlIHJlYWxtcyBvZiB0aGUgdW5yZWFsfGh0bWw9 MXxubT1vbg__;fc=1;ft=20

My 1 cent worth ...
-- Well, it is above average! But, it is NOT my top 5 documentaries of the year (e.g., Fahrenheit 9/11, Born Into Brothels, Super Size Me, The Corporation and ... still thinking).
-- It at least tries to juxtapose Darger's biography with his works, highlighting the parallels between the two.
-- More importantly, the director does NOT try to impose her interpretation or conclusion on the audience. But after some thoughts, she DOES to the extent that she thinks Darger's works might be a reflection of his life (thus, the juxtaposition), or are greatky influenced by his experiences.

What is weak ...
-- The documentary lacks any emotional connection. The audience will unlikely feel much for Darger, be it a positive or negative feeling. My friend and I were neither inspired nor disturbed by the imageries.

My conclusion:
-- Okay movie. Try my list of top 5 documentaries first. hee hee ...

Endnote: We visited the San Jose Art Museum prior to watching the movie. Could that be part of the problem?! We wondered if people are MORE intrigued by his works due to his life (rather than separating the two) ... BUT BUT BUT I think the effort is unbelievable!!!
;)

[hengcs]

Hi Chris,
I thought you have watched this. Any comments?

[Chris Knipp]

I later asked my friend, and he claimed it was very boring. He seemed to mirror the comments here http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0390123...bg__;fc=1;ft=20



Sorry, I couldn't reference the IMDb "Comment" you had in mind. Could you give the commenter's name? The first one that comes up now is very favorable.

I was disappointed and I think Oscar was. The subject is potentially very interesting. As I said Darger is a superstar of "outsider" art. Primitive art and naive art have had a huge influence on modern art as I'm sure I don't have to tell you. I just saw the big retrospective of Jean-Michel Basquiat at the Brooklyn Museum and, already a fan, I was still completely blown away. Basquiat is described as responding with a cold stare when Dubuffet was mentioned but seems to have incorporated just about everything, including "l'art brut", which made use of primitive art and art of the insane. As Oscar said, a major shortcoming was that the doc doesn't go into the purely aesthetic and artistic aspects of Darger's work enough. An obvious problem is that the man was pretty opaque.

The use of animation was effective. However I find Darger's imagery pretty repetitive.

I didn't write a review of the film. That shows that (1) I didn't have a strong emotional response, as you say too, and (2) that I didn't want to say anything bad about it, but couldn't find enough good to say about it either.