Dark Days Reviews

Outstanding documentary

When Marc Singer heard about the homeless people living in the subway tunnels under New York he understandably thought it would be a good subject for a documentary. The 20 year-old, who had never shot anything before, bought a camera and set out to film them in the hope of drawing attention to their plight. Singer ended up spending most of his savings and living with the tunnel people, even employing them as his crew.

Th result is one of the most compelling, moving and gritty films you will ever see. The homeless men and women shown in the film have created a community for themselves underground. They've hooked into the power supply, built makeshift shelters and they offer each other friendship and emotional support.

Some of these people have incredibly painful stories to tell and the film is at times overpowering. Singer has created a masterpiece among documentaries. 'Dark Days' is absorbing and eye-opening, funny and upsetting. In short it's real life and it demands to be seen.

The true

Mark Singer was a New York resident who befriended a group of people living rough in a tunnel near Penn Station. Despite the abysmal living conditions they had developed a small community and even built their own individual 'homes'. However, the owners (Amtrack) decided that the squatters were posing to much of a risk and decided to evict them.

Appalled by the possibility that they could be turfed out onto the even more dangerous streets, Singer began filming the lives of the residents in the hope that he could raise money to provide them alternative accommodation. What follows is an inspirational and touching journey, recording the stories of these lost souls. Never judgmental or moralistic, this film was cobbled together on borrowed equipment and became took over the life of a man who had no background in film. Highly recommended for the gritty style and fantastic soundtrack (DJ Shadow).

Dark Days shows us the light

This film by Mark Singer is completely unique.

Shot as a documentary about the homeless tunnel people under New York, the film gained many awards at Sundance. It is inspiring because even in the darkest places in the world where people hide, a flame of hope still burns.

You will never look at homeless people the same way again - they will no longer be faceless shapes that annoy you by having the gall to stop you and ask you for a few pennies. You will begin to wonder who they are and how they got there.

Rarely does a film have such social importance and done on a shoestring budget using out of date film stock, the result will shock and uplift you at the same time.

Backed by a scorching soundtrack from DJ Shadow, Dark Days deserves your attention - not an easy film to watch but it will pay you back tenfold for the effort!

Infinitely above the usual Hollywood drivel!

Bright

It seems that Mark Singer is everything that Michaal Moore is not, humble and genuine he makes a documentary with little experience and no budget but which captures the souls of the homeless in that New York tunnel. Leaving out his own personality he just records the lives of these amazing people.

Shot in black and white it catches the natural poetry of the tunnel, giving us an intimate portrait of their lives. As you progress through the film it challenges your everyday assumptions of the homeless. You care deeply about these people and long to know what happens to them.

The film is also accompanied by a brilliant soundtrack from DJ Shadow.

Living Underground

Tales of tunnel dwellers living in the interstices of modern cities have gained the currency of urban myth or have been touched with romance - an image recently reinforced by the finding of a secret tunnel network complete with cinema in Paris. However, this documentary, which charts the experiences of a group of people living in a railway tunnel in New York, gives a much more representative view of what it is like for the homeless who seek shelter underground.

First-time director Marc Singer cheerfully admits to his amateur status when he started filming in the Penn Station-Albany tunnel. With little in the way of budget, the homeless became the film crew. Luckily for the film, a decision by Amtrak to evict the tunnel-dwellers provides a dynamic fulcrum, while the material is skilfully edited. The constant rumble of trains accompanies the grainy black-and-white images and excellent use is made of the music of DJ Shadow.

I would recommend this documentary, but warn that some may find parts of the film a little dull - almost by the very nature of the material. The Amtrak point-of-view could also have been given more attention and the context widened. However, this is a committed documentary that takes an honest and unflinching look at people on the fringes of society who are too often ignored. The rental DVD has an interesting "making of" documentary and gives additional information on how people have coped since leaving the tunnel.

[Highly rated reviewer]

Sympathetic And Strong Film

Docrumentary about people without homes, living in the Manhattan subway system, in shanty style houses, in perpertual darkness. A harrowing look at the lives they lead, scraping through bins for food, dealing with addictions and trying to just survive.

Watch this

Documentary making at its best. A snapshot of the lives of people who although homeless and living in the dark strive to make the most of their lives constructing elaborate underground shelters with electricity, televisions, fridges and proper beds. At the start you get a view of their day to day lives. Towards the end some of the darker aspects of some of the inhabitants lives are revealed and they have often been through personal tragedy that most people could not comprehend. The conclusion to the film is totally unexpected but uplifting and wonderful. Highly recommended.

Superb Documentary

This is a superb documentary. It doesn't make value judgements about its subjects who, after all, live underground by a subway line. It just follows some of their lives giving the viewer genuine insight.

There but for the grace.....

A documentary about homeless tunnel dwellers hardly sounds like a recipe for a nice quite night in with a glass or two of wine and a large box of quality confectionary. But apart from your own self imposed quilty conscience, this film is well worth the effort. Marc Singer deserves all the praise he gets for this ultimately uplifting look at humanity in dark places. The 'making of' feature is essential to the overall effect of the piece, and the use of DJ Shadow's music as soundtrack, inspired. You'll never quite see a homless person with the same eyes again!

A raw truly independent film.

Where are the young, gutsy, independent British filmmakers?

In New York it would have seemed.

Behold ‘Dark Days’ one of the rawest independent films by Londoner Marc Singer.

You will see better documentaries, but the premise, the location, the access and the characters grab you.

It could be considered one sided, these guys are his friends? As one would expect characters have tragic pasts, he doesn’t just show the angels though and DJ Shadow rounds it off with perfect music.

Watch the making of doc, just as fascinating and illuminating.