Dark Days (2000)

91% of critics liked it
(35 reviews)
86% of users liked it
(5,587 ratings)

Novice filmmaker Marc Singer lived in the bowels of a midtown Manhattan railway station for two years to shoot this harrowing account of the day-to-day existence of the homeless. Shot in noirish black and white, Singer shows how society's discarded and disenfranchised fashion a community of sorts in… More Novice filmmaker Marc Singer lived in the bowels of a midtown Manhattan railway station for two years to shoot this harrowing account of the day-to-day existence of the homeless. Shot in noirish black and white, Singer shows how society's discarded and disenfranchised fashion a community of sorts in the sunless labyrinth of the station's transit tunnels. Though told without narration, a dozen or so individual stories emerge. Dee (the sole woman depicted in the film) lost all her children in a house fire while she was high on crack; Ralph remains inconsolable after his five-year old's rape and mutilation during a stint in prison. In the final reel, Amtrak sends in armed police to clean out the tunnels, citing health concerns. However, the subterranean tenets happen upon a stroke of luck, as an NYC social worker discovers a cache of previously unclaimed public housing. Featuring a sparse soundtrack by DJ Shadow, Dark Days won the Grand Jury prize for cinematography, the Freedom of Expression award, and an audience award at the 2000 Sundance Film Festival. ~ Jonathan Crow, Rovi

Rating, Runtime: Unrated, 1 hr. 21 min.
Directed By: Marc Singer (II), Marc Singer
Written By: Marc Singer (II)
Genres: Documentary, Special Interest

In Theaters: Aug 30, 2000 Limited
On DVD: Sep 25, 2001

Critic Reviews

Mark Holcomb, Village Voice
Marc Singer's feted 2000 doc about a Manhattan subterranean community has lost none of its power since its debut.
Emanuel Levy, EmanuelLevy.Com
Shot in stylized black-and-white, this docu about the homeless was the winner of multiple awards at the Sundance Film Fest.
Louis Proyect, rec.arts.movies.reviews
A deeply humanistic documentary about NYC's "lower depths".
Kalvin Henely, Slant Magazine
The documentary feels like it surreptitiously removed another barrier to more direct relations between those behind and in front of the camera.
Neil Mitchell, Electric Sheep
Dark Days remains a vital documentation and representation of a continuing, widespread problem, the resonance of which is heightened in these fragile, economically troubled times.
Brandon Judell, New York Theatre Wire
One of the best films about the homeless ever made.
Daniel Eagan, Film Journal International
A tribute to its characters' indomitable spirits.
Martin Scribbs, Low IQ Canadian
As a chronicle of midnight and dawn in the great human day, Dark Days ranks among the most moral of films.
Brian Gibson, Vue Weekly (Edmonton, Canada)
haunting documentary about the homeless beneath New York's streets
Joshua Tanzer, Offoffoff
An unromanticized and fascinating glimpse of the lives of a community of homeless people surviving in a train tunnel in Manhattan.
Harry Guerin, RTE Interactive (Dublin, Ireland)
A superb film that, unlike so many others, will make you realise the value of what you have.

Read all 11 critic reviews

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Featured Audience Ratings

Jason S

A brutally honest look at the world of homeless people in New York. We get to hang out with these people as they try and build a life in the underground tunnels of Amtrack. They don't make any attempt to tell a story here. They just let life play out and take us along for the… More
A brutally honest look at the world of homeless people in New York. We get to hang out with these people as they try and build a life in the underground tunnels of Amtrack. They don't make any attempt to tell a story here. They just let life play out and take us along for the ride.
Sophie B

This was really interesting in being able to see how these people really live. They're making the most of their situation and it shows them as real people who realise their mistakes and feel guilty about what they've done and wish it could be changed. It's also really… More
This was really interesting in being able to see how these people really live. They're making the most of their situation and it shows them as real people who realise their mistakes and feel guilty about what they've done and wish it could be changed. It's also really good that these people were allowed a second chance because of this film.
Gordon A

Moving documentary with an evenhanded positive attitude to homeless peoples' plight. It explores their sad back stories but ends in a spirit of hope for the future.
Stella D

a powerful documentary about a group of homeless people living in an abandoned stretch of amtrak tunnel under nyc, some of them for years. first time filmmaker marc singer lived underground for several months, then decided to make a film to raise money to help his friends. using… More
a powerful documentary about a group of homeless people living in an abandoned stretch of amtrak tunnel under nyc, some of them for years. first time filmmaker marc singer lived underground for several months, then decided to make a film to raise money to help his friends. using loaned equipment and the homeless as his crew, he recorded their strange life in this moving film. during this time amtrak sought to forcibly evict them from the tunnel. a fascinating story and amazing work by a group of non professionals, with a fitting soundtrack by dj shadow
Lesley N

The music, the atmosphere, the story, the subject matter.. brilliant. One of those documentaries that stays in the mind fo a long time afterwards.
Wu C

Facinating doc about homeless people living in a subway tunnel in NYC. Everyone should see this.