Dark Days

As we shift through the dark space of their world that is at once claustrophobic and cavernous, we see the mundane rituals of ordinary life play out: cooking, raising pets, cleaning, showering. The men (and one woman) of this film speak of a life lived autonomous from societal intervention. One senses that the filmmaker, and more adamantly the homeless themselves are trying to convince us that here in the subterranean garbage disposal of life, their needs are being met by the trash of the world that is chewed up and spit out. In the film, these leftovers become a metaphor for the people themselves - as they revel in finding a treasure of discarded donuts, or show their opportunist nature by collecting cans for cash to buy heroin. So our waste becomes their livelihood. We see them cook cornbread, they've got TV and radio and a space heater. "We're not homeless," one man tells us, "homeless is when you don't have a home." But then his friend corrects him. "Nah, you're still homeless. You just ain't helpless." But as the film progresses, we start to perceive something in the darkness, something invisible around the edges that keeps them buried underground; it's their addiction to drugs, and the memories of past lives that are fraught with anguish and suffering. They are lost souls - shadow people moving through an ethereal, timeless landscape.

I just came across this gem of a movie on cable last night. I'm not a social activist and I don't particularly have a soft spot in my heart for the homeless. I lived in San Francisco for a while and I got pan handled by at least 20 people a day walking back and forth to the train...usually much more then 20 people , so that made disillusioned pretty quickly. But watching this movie did exactly what Marc Singer set out to do...made me sympathetic to these individuals in the film regardless of my preconceptions about the homeless in the United States. Yes, most of the people in this film certainly didn't make the right decisions in life, some were openly smoking crack on camera and most definitely were not educated. But it made me realize that we all make some mistakes and it is possible for some of those mistakes to spiral into their situations.

The "characters" in the film were all much more articulate then I would have expected from some homeless people. They all told their individual stories but none of them tried to make any excuses for things they've done in the past to get them where they were which is what I think ultimately made me feel sympathetic to them.

But it was the style of this film that really sucked me in before the characters and subject matter did. It was beautifully shot on B&W film which was impressive considering the lighting issues inside the tunnel. The soundtrack from DJ Shadow was also excellent and really added to the mood of this film. Overall, a great doc. I recommend it to everyone.

This movie hits upon all the emotional movers: laughter, sadness, regret, hope. The alternative life style is like you've never seen or heard or could have understand through the usual stereotypes. The screen shots are well captured and the music of dj shadow neatly completes the puzzle.

The only part I didn't enjoy was the ending. Not that I have anything against those sorts of endings, but as Marc Singer himself told me after the movie, it was unrealistic. It was only possible because of the negative press associated with the issue and the particular homeless of the film. An all-too-real look into american subcultures shouldn't stray into fantasy in the end. I would have lengthened the beginning and middle, and simply left out the ending. BUT, the movie was still great, 9 of 10.

To actually get the full effect of the documentary, one must watch the special features on the DVD. From there one will learn that the crew for the movie was composed of the same homeless people who were the subject of the film. These folks knew nothing of film-making, but with the encouragement of one, yes ONE, person, they became a team and had a purpose and something to look forward to.

The point of their teamwork wasn't to gain a home via the welfare system. Their point was to make a film and use any profits toward getting their own home. They knew day in and day out that everything they had worked on up to that point could be useless if the money ran out, but they did it anyway. They went through everything we throw away and made something of it and themselves. Never once did any of the people who were homeless show self-pity. Some even explained how they got where they were and why they stayed there. Watching their story puts a human face and the people we don't even recognize as human when we see them on the street. It is a beautiful story of self-exhile, self-determination and giving back.

If you are bitter, jaded, depressed or full of self-pity, then run to the video store to get this movie. Then be thankful you have a warm dry place to live, money to rent movies and a TV and DVD player.

Dark Days is an amazing first-time documentary project. I saw this last night and was blown away. The guy shot a huge amount of film before developing anything. He was lucky he got the light metering right under such challenging conditions!!! He also never checked the audio until all the shooting was done (more than 50 hours)- another small bit of luck! Mark lived in the tunnels under New York City with homeless people for two years while filming this documentary. He lived homeless in every aspect, even dumpster diving for food.

As for the content of the film, it's an incredibly compassionate look into the lives of a few of the many homeless people who lived under New York City in abandoned railway tunnels for decades. Up until recent years, there was a community of multiple thousands of people living down there. Having read the book the Mole People, I'd say this movie is a more compelling and insightful examination of this story.