MovieChat Forums > In the Realms of the Unreal (2008) Discussion > Fascinating!

Fascinating!

posted 19 years ago by bama1111
13 replies | jump to latest

What an amazing story! I mean the one about Darger's life, not the one he wrote although that, too, is pretty amazing. The only missing pieces, that could have enhanced the story, were some observations from people he worked with. He created, and occupied, a new world where he used his own feelings and points of view to tell (and illustrate)the story of that world. Was he mentally ill? Who knows.

I thought that the idea of using a 9 year old (Dakota Fanning) to narrate the story (beautifully) was brilliant. It was like listening to one of the "Vivians" speaking.

I noticed some postings making references to child pornography. While watching, that thought never occured to me although I wondered about all the female "penises". Some of the postings I read helped to shed some light on that subject, or at least gave some opinions on it. In my opinion, the idea of sexuality probably never entered his thinking. And, I would think, Dakota Fanning's family probably had similar feelings or they would not have let her be part of the project.

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Emperor: Tell me how he died.
Captain Algren: I will tell you...how he lived.

[–] 19 years ago

[deleted]

[–] bama1111 19 years ago

I stand corrected. I think I took her age for the year the movie was released and subtracted one year. Regardless of her age at the time, she added a dimension to the parts she narrated that wouldn't have been the same with an older person.

Coincidentally, I watched I Am Sam again last night and, as in every movie I've seen her in, I am just amazed at how talented she is. Not many actresses (of any age) can list co-starring appearances opposite Denzel Washington, Robert DeNiro, Sean Penn and Tom Cruise in their resume.

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Emperor: Tell me how he died.
Captain Algren: I will tell you...how he lived.

[–] digitaldiva 19 years ago

I thought the documentary was a work of art, visually stunning, provocative and quietly disturbing. Henry Darger was a tormented, emotionally stunted genius but certainly nothing in his work or the film was the least bit pornographic or sexually stimulating. It was a wondrous work and Dakota Fanning's participation in it made it enchanting. She's one of the few child actresses (Victoire Thivisol in Ponette and Reying Zhou in King of Mask are others) who processes her feelings with authenticity.

[–] bama1111 19 years ago

Thanks for the 2 movie recommendations. I just ordered them from Netflix. When I was looking them up on IMDB I noticed that they are both from 1996. I also found that Victoire's other 2 movie appearances are in movies I'd seen, and enjoyed, Chocolat & The Children Of The Century, both with Juliette Binoche.

Many child actors can be believable and entertaining but, as you said, Dakota Fanning goes well past believable & entertaining. The fact that she can hold her own with actors like Sean Penn, Robert DeNiro and Denzel Washington speaks volumes about her talents. And, watching her in appearances on Letterman and the Tonight Show the past couple years, it's nice to see that she is still a kid in spite of how mature she may seem.

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Emperor: Tell me how he died.
Captain Algren: I will tell you...how he lived.

[–] 19 years ago

[deleted]

[–] 19 years ago

[deleted]

[–] bama1111 19 years ago

I can understand what you are saying regarding her age vs. the subject matter. I felt that having a young girl narrating, particularly about the young girls that he created for his tale, gave the documentary an extra (good) ingredient. To be honest, I can't recall whether she actually addressed any of the more mature themes in the film because there was another narrator, a man, who spoke, too. I was so intrigued by the story of his life that I really didn't give much thought to who was saying what. I think that because she "read her lines" so well it was easy to forget that she is just a child herself.

As for how much she knew of the subject matter, I suppose there are any number of actors, portraying people working in fields that require a great amount of technical knowledge, who have little real knowledge or understanding of what they are saying.

The bottom line, for me, is that it is a fascinating story of the man's life.

Emperor: Tell me how he died.
Captain Algren: I will tell you...how he lived.

[–] 19 years ago

[deleted]

[–] bama1111 19 years ago

Thank you for the feedback. You seem to be more knowledgeable about Mr. Darger than I. I agree with your "integrity" comment about actors because I am always pleased when I hear of actors doing extensive research into the characters they portray. I further agree that it's good that the girl didn't (I assume) have more knowledge of the subjects you mentioned. Personally, I would have expected someone older but the bottom line for me is that, by being a young female, she added to the presentation of the story of Mr. Darger.

Emperor: Tell me how he died.
Captain Algren: I will tell you...how he lived.

[–] Katie3103 18 years ago

Does anybody know anything about the full-length feature film supposed to be in pre-production about Henry Darger's life?

[–] bama1111 18 years ago

See the attached

http://www.filmstew.com/Content/Article.asp?ContentID=7398

Emperor: Tell me how he died.
Captain Algren: I will tell you...how he lived.

[–] dcamosy 18 years ago

I can't see that there's much more about him that a narrative film could tell. There's too much speculation, and a feature naturally invite judgment. There's also the plain fact that his daily life wasn't particularly interesting.

I think the best tribute we can give to Darger is a long series of documentaries, once his work is disseminated more widely, and some people have actually sat down and read his books. Then we can work on his psychology, if we want, or have more comments on his art and writing. I'd love to just continue to speculate, which is what documentaries do quite well. Maybe an analysis of his writing as a literary work would be in order.

[–] TheManInOil 12 years ago

I think that in addition to what is said in the movie about how he may have had no notion of female anatomy, the penises also may reflect two things:

1 - He identified with these characters. In the story, the little girls represent himself as he'd like to be. Hence though they appear female they possess masculine aspects.

2 - He says expressly that the girls are 'strange' in that they are 'like boys'. No reason to assume he meant only in temperment. He may have been aware that girls don't have penises but used them to illustrate the 'boyish' quality that the girls had.

Either way, it struck me as completely innocent.

"I'll book you. I'll book you on something. I'll find something in the book to book you on."