In the Realms of the Unreal
I watched this – can anybody guess? – ‘cos Dakota Fanning provides the voiceover. I’m a completist, sue me. Outside of her “presence”, I pretty much expected the usual Ken Burns style documentary about an artist I probably wouldn’t have a lot of interest in. I was right about the Ken Burns part – yawn, yawn, yawn. I kinda didn’t mind this style for a while but I knew one day I’d get tired of seeing it, and today’s the day. On the artist Henry Darger himself though, I’m fascinated. So while the Ken Burns thing is tired and everything – it’s less a film than a Powerpoint presentation – I wouldn’t have found out about this guy any other way, I guess, and at 90 minutes it’s a neat Readers Digest ish intro to his story and work, and they couldn’t have picked a better narrator than Dakota – I think I’d say that even if I wasn’t a fan. I might watch this again – but I’m more likely to keep my eyes peeled for any books about the guy or exhibitions of his work, both of which would be infinitely more rewarding, I’m sure. I can get my Dakota fix elsewhere, and there are far greater documentaries than this.