realms of the unreal

[pete]

official site

I just saw this yesterday.  it was really disturbing but very fascinating and quite powerful towards the end.  watch it if you get a chance.

[Ghostboy]

Thumbs way up from my camp, too. The guy's work is really stunning, and the way it's presented in the film is equally gorgeous.

Although I think the only reason pete liked it is because the director is Asian.

[cine]

Although I think the only reason pete liked it is because the director is Asian.

I'd have to agree with that.

I'm seeing this on tuesday so I'm pumped.  

[Stefen]

This thread is too white and bland.

[Gamblour.]

Just saw this today. I've been looking forward to this for a while. I only knew the basic story. But man, was I disappointed with this. I feel like the structure of this movie was horribly, horribly done. Second, I think the animation and narration ruined this movie.

Possible spoilers.

The structure movie is completely flaccid. There's no punch or tension at all. Think of how great it would've been to hear all about Darger, how much of a recluse he was, how lonely his life was, then boom! 15,000 pages and paintings to go with about a fantasy world he created. Instead, she makes it as boring as possible, drifting in and out with endless narration between his growing up and the story he created. She, Jessica Yu, made this story incredibly boring.

The only time I was intrigued was when she made connections between his life and the text (which seems like it was a monster to work through). When Darger says he was raped, then she goes to the story with the false explanation of rape, that was very very good. That really worked. I still think she structured in the worst, most inefficient way. There might have been a feature-length movie here, but she makes it seem like it should've only been about 45 minutes.

The narration is way to extensive. And it really bugged me how she didn't show any of the interviewees for about thirty minutes, just their voices. That's the other thing, her hand was too heavy. She should've just presented the works as they were, get rid of all that horrible animation, and let them speak for themselves. She should've let the people who knew Darger really introduce, and then delve deep into the journals and the stories. I swear, for this short feature, I fell asleep when she went into all of that story bullshit from minutes 40-55, I think. So poorly told.

[Find Your Magali]

DVD comes out next month. I'm looking forward to seeing it for myself.

[SHAFTR]

I saw this a few months ago and found it really interesting.  I would agree that the content is better than the actual documentary, but the content is a goldmine.  I thought the guy's novel was long, impressive (since no one knew about it) and interesting....but certainly not very good.