Dark Days (2000, dir. Marc Singer)

Dark Days (2000, dir. Marc Singer)

What Is It?: A documentary about the "mole people" who lived in the closed tunnels beneath New York City. No alligators make the scene.

What About It?: A fascinating document about homeless people who carve out a place for themselves underneath the city and the continued efforts to find them a place to live by various social agencies. Shot in grainy Black and White largely because the director was told that he would make fewer mistakes as a rank amateur (which is true), visually, the film becomes a metaphor of sorts of how we view those who fall through the cracks of our families and our society. Singer not only got lucky with some amazing sequences -- see the train arriving when his guide is first taking him underground -- he clearly has a knack for framing his subjects. In addition, those selfsame subjects helped him make the film -- the crew was largely homeless people that Singer hired on to assist him.

Why Should I See It?: Because you like your Vérité straight up and you like creepy, dark documentaries. And you like the great DJ Shadow, who composed an incredibly effective score for the film.

What Else Is It Like?: Brother's Keeper, Streetwise, Down and Out in America.

Reserve it at the Multnomah County Library.

--ddt/pdx