Name: VIPPER 2006-02-22 5:15
-
Name the last 15,000 page book you read. Hell, name the last 15,000 page book written. Hell, name one 15,000 page book at all. On Wednesday evening, UCLA's James Bridge Theatre will be showing "In The Realms of The Unreal", a documentary about Henry Darger, janitor by day and creator of a 15,000 page graphic novel by night...
Darger's book (which came together over 60 years) tells the story of "The Vivian Girls", a group of naked angelic, hermaphroditic children (apparently Darger, a full-on recluse, didn't quite realize boys and girls had different bits and pieces) who carry on an epic battle against evil, as represented by weird Civil War-esque soldiers.
The amazing thing about the film, and about Darger in general, is the attempted allegorizing of an entire life. Darger lived all by his lonesome in a single apartment and rarely socialized, but he found an outlet in translating his entire life into a gargantuan work of art. Bits from his traumatized childhood come through in characters in the story. His apparent struggle between urges to protect children and urges of a less altruistic nature come through in the basic conflict of his story. And the narrative's highs and lows reflect Darger's own frustrations and elation.
As the art wasn't discovered until a neighbor entered Darger's apartment as the artist himself entered a hospital near the very end of his life, we will never know the man. But we have a fanciful tale which illuminates the elements that made the man. And since no one is really going to pull off reading 15,000 pages (pictures or no), watching Susan West's documentary on Darger is a better way to see the story, especially as it puts the artist's work in the context of his life. And Dakota Fanning narrates!
Shown at 7:30PM Weds, as a part of a double-bill with "The Eyes of Dan Bachardy" at UCLA James Bridge Theatre (Sunset Blvd and Hilgard Ave).
-
Trippy stuff. I want to see this.
Name the last 15,000 page book you read. Hell, name the last 15,000 page book written. Hell, name one 15,000 page book at all. On Wednesday evening, UCLA's James Bridge Theatre will be showing "In The Realms of The Unreal", a documentary about Henry Darger, janitor by day and creator of a 15,000 page graphic novel by night...
Darger's book (which came together over 60 years) tells the story of "The Vivian Girls", a group of naked angelic, hermaphroditic children (apparently Darger, a full-on recluse, didn't quite realize boys and girls had different bits and pieces) who carry on an epic battle against evil, as represented by weird Civil War-esque soldiers.
The amazing thing about the film, and about Darger in general, is the attempted allegorizing of an entire life. Darger lived all by his lonesome in a single apartment and rarely socialized, but he found an outlet in translating his entire life into a gargantuan work of art. Bits from his traumatized childhood come through in characters in the story. His apparent struggle between urges to protect children and urges of a less altruistic nature come through in the basic conflict of his story. And the narrative's highs and lows reflect Darger's own frustrations and elation.
As the art wasn't discovered until a neighbor entered Darger's apartment as the artist himself entered a hospital near the very end of his life, we will never know the man. But we have a fanciful tale which illuminates the elements that made the man. And since no one is really going to pull off reading 15,000 pages (pictures or no), watching Susan West's documentary on Darger is a better way to see the story, especially as it puts the artist's work in the context of his life. And Dakota Fanning narrates!
Shown at 7:30PM Weds, as a part of a double-bill with "The Eyes of Dan Bachardy" at UCLA James Bridge Theatre (Sunset Blvd and Hilgard Ave).
-
Trippy stuff. I want to see this.