Dark Days (2000)

Such a frustrating disappointment

Absolutely the worst movie.

In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.

Singer did a great job with this documentary, especially consider his age and lack of experience when he filmed it. His ability to overcome the budgetary and technical constraints is astonishing. The end-result is an above-average documentary.I understand that Singer's original intention was to help some of the subterranean "citizens" with profits from this film. Like the documentary, "Born Into Brothels", this is (I guess) an admirable goal, but it certainly interfered with the movie itself.With all that out of the way, let me conclude by saying that I did not find it very enjoyable. I don't mean that I felt guilty or uncomfortable watching this chronicle of life on the outer reaches of society. I mean that I got a bit angry and fed-up with the situation. Are these people marginalized? Yes, undoubtedly. Do they live where they do because of a "few bad choices"? No. A couple bad choices lead you to buy a car that's a lemon, or to hit on the boss's spouse at your company Christmas party. People who deliberately commit crimes and turn to drugs are doing a lot more than making bad choices. Finally, are there options for these people to help get them back into the mainstream? Yes...if they stop making "bad choices".Worth watching, but be prepared to be frustrated if you are a person who has worked hard all his/her life and obeyed (mostly) the law.

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 had wanted to see this for quite a while, specially after hearing all the hype. I was excited as I was about to view it, but only came out with disappointment after watching it. I couldn't feel a connection with any of these people (and it's not because they were homeless, I was on the streets myself) but it was just hard to really be moved here, it seemed to just trail along, and wasn't all that interesting. I enjoyed Union Square a whole lot more. You would think he could've made more with this subject, ppl living underground should be more than this documentary. I wanted to feel something for these people, but it just wasn't there.

One of the best documentaries I've ever seen. It really changes the way you think about homelessness. The cast of real people in this film are refreshingly charismatic. I really didn't expect to be blown away by a film like this, but trust me it's really an excellent work. The fact that Marc Singer had the balls to venture into the cavernous abyss of the Penn Station tunnels for such a long period of time to make this film makes it even more admirable. For me this film to me really has taken the genre to its highest level because the director actually lived and survived with the cast of the film and literally became homeless himself, not to mention letting them take an active role in making it in terms of production. I really can't think of a truer way to shoot a documentary like this one.