Dark Days (2000)

A cinematic portrait of the homeless population who live permanently in the underground tunnels of New York City.

Director:

Marc Singer

Stars:

Marc Singer

6 wins & 5 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview:
Marc Singer	...	Himself

Storyline

Near Penn Station, next to the Amtrak tracks, squatters have been living for years. Marc Singer goes underground to live with them, and films this "family." A dozen or so men and one woman talk about their lives: horrors of childhood, jail time, losing children, being coke-heads. They scavenge, they've built themselves sturdy one-room shacks; they have pets, cook, chat, argue, give each other haircuts. A bucket is their toilet. Leaky overhead pipes are a source of water for showers. They live in virtual darkness. During the filming, Amtrak gives a 30-day eviction notice.

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Plot Keywords:

amtrak | tunnel | new york | eviction | poverty | 

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Genres:

Documentary

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

9 March 2001 (UK)

Also Known As:

Imeres sto skotadi

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

$33,039 (USA) (1 September 2000)

Gross:

$426,687 (USA) (4 May 2001)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Picture Farm

Technical Specs

Runtime:

94 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The film was shot on 16mm black and white film stock, not as a creative decision, but because according to Singer, a filmmaker friend had told him, "If you shoot color and you don't know what you're doing, you'll fuck it all up and it will come out looking all green or red."

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Connections

Featured in The 2001 IFP/West Independent Spirit Awards (2001)

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Soundtracks

"Dark Days Theme"
Performed by DJ Shadow

User Reviews

fascinating film with a remarkable story behind it

It's nigh-impossible not to be moved by Marc Singer's remarkable first film, about a community of homeless people living in a train tunnel beneath Manhattan. What's even more inspiring is how the film got made. Then-20-year-old Singer, who'd never before run a camera, lived underground with his subjects, recruited them as crew, convinced local merchants to donate equipment and even sold his own bed to buy film. His original goal in making the film was to fund its denizens' move out of the tunnel. The result is a fascinating slice of a part of life most of us have never considered. The characters are gritty, sometimes funny, sometimes tragic and always very real. Dark Days takes homelessness out of the realm of sociological phenomenon and into an almost-visceral engagement with these people and their lives. We look in as the characters decorate their scrap-metal shacks with discarded material, earn their livings, emotionally support each other and ultimately struggle with their homes' demise. Though clearly Singer roots for his subjects, he avoids the temptation to pity them; he simply calls it as he sees it - and has lived it. There's even a happy ending.