Dark Days (2000)

User Rating:

7.8/10   

Director:

Marc Singer

Release Date:

9 March 2001 (UK)

Genre:

Documentary

Plot:

Near Penn Station, next to the Amtrak tracks, squatters have been living for years. Marc Singer goes underground to live with them...

Plot Keywords:

Amtrak | Rehabilitation | Community | Drug Addiction | New York

Awards:

6 wins & 5 nominations

Cast

Marc Singer

...

Himself

Runtime:

94 min | Germany:84 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Australia:M | New Zealand:M | UK:15

Company:

Picture Farm

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."

Movie Connections:

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

Dark Days captures the consequences of human suffering and hardship

Dark Days is an excellent documentary highlighting the hardships faced by the homeless people of New York City. Castigated and mistreated by citizens and government officials on the streets, the homeless resort to living in the underground railway tunnels, where they will be left alone. Mark Singer does an excellent job of showing that the 'land of the free' is not so free when people are denied basic human rights. Singer allows his audience to partake in communication with the homeless, something we rarely take the time to do when we pass a homeless person on the streets. His documentary helps us understand their backgrounds and misfortunes and how they came to be homeless. Singer's documentary really compels one to fight the stereotypes and discomforts associated with the homeless. He captures human suffering in a place where we most often forget to look for it.