Dark Days (2000) – Review
Directed by Marc Singer
The film Produced, Filmed & Directed by Marc Singer in short and is not an understatement is a masterpiece of modern cinema. Dark Days is ‘real’ and ‘honest’ in every way, depicting the lives of some of the people living in the tunnels underneath New York City.
He follows them showing you how they really are. Marc Singer uses the camera as a tool to let us, and the world know the truth, about what is going on. We see personal accounts from many of the residents who share their experiences that give us insight to how they ended up in the tunnel. Many believed that they were being punished for their crimes or wrong doings in the past, from ‘one extreme to another’ Why? One the one hand they lived relatively independent not worrying paying bills because they had access to gas and electricity, but on the other hand the living conditions in the tunnels had led to some being very ill with respiratory problems due to the damp and dusty conditions. Oh did I mention rodents, I mean rats, lots of them thousands and thousands of them looking for food, running by in droves sometimes.
Marc Singer who has been living in America since 1994, decided amongst his close friends one evening that he wanted to go into the tunnels, at that time with no intention of making a film let alone spending two years making it. It was after living in the tunnel for some months making friends and seeing people for who they were and not homeless people when he realised he could do something to make a difference…
With many of today’s Hollywood production’s having big budgets and a well-known cast, Dark Days captures the essence of social filmmaking with an almost zero budget. Marc Singer spent two years making the film pulling together whatever resources he and Co-Producer Ben Freedman could, this included a 16mm camera, film stock from Kodak, an Avid editing system and a great music soundtrack by DJ Shadow. Shooting in black & white seemed fitting, as the tunnel didn’t have any sunlight so most of the time you were in darkness.
The power of cinema and its impact on a global audience has revealed itself once again in a monumental film that has been of personal inspiration for me during this last year at university and whilst working on my project. One of aims of the film was ‘awareness’, when you see the film you’ll understand why, I’ve talked too much and words can’t really describe the film well enough, you have it see it for yourselves.
Read Roger Ebert’s review, here.