Dark Days

Daylight. The sunlight is something we see every day and at times, something we take for granted. Between enjoying the blue sky, the colorful trees, and the bright spots the light illuminates, daylight offers plenty of beauty to our minds. Of course, with light comes shadows, giving new meaning and depth to the objects in the light. You could say that our subject today is about the very same thing. A film that gives new meaning and thankfulness to the light above ground, by exploring the shadows beneath it. A film that follows a group of people, living their daily lives below the lively and busy streets of New York City, in the subway tunnels.

So if you're like me and you enjoy film and the impact and emotions they convey, then grab a glass of your preferred liquid and join me for the next little while. For me that's a bottle of Brawler, Champion Ale from our friends at Yards brewery, here in Philadelphia. So sit back, relax, and let's talk about the love of film. Welcome to Glazed Cinema.

Dark Days is a documentary covering a group of homeless people who living in New York City during the 1990's. This story is unlike any other that I have seen that cover a homeless population however. This documentary covers something of legend in New York City. Things people whisper about, warn their kids about, and keep in the backs of their minds. Dark Days is about, the people living in the subway tunnels of the Big Apple.

Previous to Dark Days, the subway tunnels of New York City were something of urban legend. People would say that the tunnels were inhabited by mole people and that they'd eat you if you trespassed on their territory. Others said they ate things like rats and other animals that lingered in the dark too long. Marc Singer, however, didn't pay any mind to those myths, in fact he was sort of interested in confronting them to see for himself. The story of how the director found this group of people is, like the the film itself, a very interesting story.

Prior to going underground, Dark Days director, Marc Singer was a young man from London, living in the East Village of Manhattan, specifically, Alphabet City in the early nineties. This part of town is occupied by Avenues A thru D and is between the Bowery and FDR Dr., along the East River. Today, the area is a quite area with some edginess that still remains. It's always played host to creative types and today is no different, though the price of housing today is rising fast. When Singer lived here, however, things were much different and I think it's important to put ourselves there.

A few years prior to Singer calling Alphabet City his home, the area was much different than it is today. There were abandoned buildings, squatters, and a large amount of drugs, noise, and violent crimes. The area was inhabited by an array of people ranging from artists, low income tenants, and young urban professionals, otherwise known as yuppies. It’s estimated that roughly 150 people lived in the Tompkins Square Park alone. The park was a place for drugs, concerts, all night parties, and other activities.

As the wealthier people started moving in, they felt the area was unsafe and as new tenants moved in, so did new rules. A 1:00 AM curfew was out into place and noise ordinances were enforced. Feelings of resentment and frustration began to grow as new rules were enforced as tensions rose. Tensions would reach their boiling point in 1988 when a protest was organized in the nearby park. Activists, homeless people, and artists alike organized to protest the gentrification attempts. Met by an army of police and crowd control, things quickly got out of hand, leaving dozens of people injured and a handful of police being indicted. It was an event deemed the Tompkins Square Park Riots. The city and the homeless inhabitants of the area eventually reached a deal, which saw the city take ownership of eleven buildings while the rest were given to higher income rental opportunities. If you’re a fan of broadway, Rent is about Alphabet City around this time.

So imagine a few years later as Singer is living in Alphabet City. We know how this was in his own words, thanks to an interview conducted in 2014 with The Guardian:

"There were lots of immigrants living in project housing, lots of drugs. Parts of it were really dangerous. There was no chance of getting a taxi on Avenue A”.

During this time Singer began speaking to homeless people and eventually conversation turned to the tunnels. Singer, who was a male model at the time was sick of living that lifestyle and the thought of homelessness intrigued him. The mythos surrounding the tunnels also interested his twenty-one year old mind. With his interest piqued, he descended into the darkness to find the community he’d heard of. Venturing into countless tunnels to try and find people living underground, he eventually found who he was looking for.

Dark Days shows nothing of the director’s journey into the tunnels and instead focused on the community that called the tunnels their home. Singer built a home and lived alongside the group, becoming a member of the community. Marc understood the benefits of living in the tunnels, which are laid out by people in the film as well. Living on the street means you’re vulnerable. You’re vulnerable to the public eye, the weather, and the city itself.

Each person built their own home with scavenged materials like plywood, scrapped metal, fencing, and found furniture. The tunnels provided them shelter from the elements and privacy from the general public.

Living in darkness every day, they lit their dwellings with industrial lights and barrel fires. Each person fends for themselves in different ways, but they all take pride in the homes they’ve built for themselves.

The reason why each person found themselves in the tunnels is different. For some financial hardship and lack of opportunity caused their retreat into the train line. For others, addiction to narcotics gripped them to homelessness. For all however, train line provided a safety from society. Unlike living on the street, in the tunnel they had protection from the elements, privacy from the general public, and security from the other homeless population.

Singer dis not descend into the tunnels with the mindset of filming a documentary. The idea instead came after talking to one of the community members, Ralph. In a 2000 interview with the Austin Chronicle, Singer clarified how this came about, stating:

“I was talking to Ralph one day, one of the characters, and we both said, 'You know, somebody should be making a film about this.' Not only was it fascinating, but it could hopefully make a difference, too. Even if all it did was make people not look with so much hate toward people on the street, it would be a good, worthwhile thing to do.”

With the buy-in from the rest of the group, the project was jumpstarted. As exciting as this prospect was, it had plenty of challenges. For one, Singer had never used a camera before, but this didn’t stop him. Visiting a local camera shop, called Cinevision, they gave him a lesson on how to load and operate a camera, lighting, and sound equipment. Not having the funds to buy a camera outright, he paid a couple hundred dollars, promising to pay for the equipment afterward.

The story of how the film was shot is quite incredible and was a true team effort. The entire project took almost three years to complete. With no crew, Singer decided to use the entire community as his crew. Assigning equipment based on the person’s talents and skills they loaded and unloaded film, managed lighting, set up dollies, among other tasks. The director chose to assign tasks to the members of the community for a few reasons. In the same interview from the Austin Chronicle, he explains why.

“There's a lot of reasons that I wanted them to be the crew. Being on the street, you lose a lot of your self-esteem and your self-respect. Considering all of the other things that internally happen to you, you're really quite shattered. Being the crew on the film gave people a lot of that confidence back. It's a difficult thing to make a film, and yet they were doing this thing that you're supposed to be really educated in. That really brought people to life again.

Also, I wanted to help them get themselves out of the tunnel. If the film was going to do that, they had to be a part of it. It would also teach people to work in a group again, work as a team, because they're gonna be back in the work force and they've got to be able to work with people. In the beginning, it was a little difficult because none of us had a clue, but after three or four weeks, they would say to me, 'Where are you going to film tonight?' and I'd get there and the cameras would be loaded, sound ready, lights ready, everyone's like a full working group. It was amazing."

You have to admire Marc for this approach and thought processes. I certainly do. To think in this manner and show that level of compassion, empathy, forward thinking, and planning is phenomenal. You also have to admire the people making the film and their ability to do all of these tasks and do them well with little training. I find the entire project to be amazing and inspiring. What we as human beings can do when we put our minds to doing good is truly something special.

Due to the environment of the tunnels, with all the dust floating in the air, Singer had to regularly change out cameras over the course of filming. The same camera shop that lended him the equipment also allowed him to exchange equipment over the filming period.

At one point Singer took footage to be developed, but ran out of film stock. A person at the lab contacted Kodak, who at the time was a juggernaut in the film and camera industry and told them of the project and lack of funding. Kodak decided to help and sent free film for the crew to use.

I find the overall story of the making of this film to be so uplifting and encouraging. So many people from different areas and walks of life coming together to help in a common goal.

The end product itself is equally as inspiring as the adventure of filming it. We meet all of the inhabitants of this community, all down in the tunnels for different reasons. We follow each of them in their daily lives as they make ends meat, interact with one another, and divulge their past, present, and hopeful future. For the most part the film is telatively quiet, not something you might expect. I half expected to hear trains with every shot, but that’s not the case, although their presence is seen and felt, almost as a reminder of where we are.

Dark Days was released with the turn of the millennium clock, but one that I saw almost ten years later, in 2008. I first heard about Dark Days after watching The Thin Blue Line. I was so impressed by that film that I wanted to see more compelling documentaries. After doing some research this film about homeless people in the New York City subway system kept coming up. What also intrigued me was the script for the film title, as it was done in white graffiti. After reading more information I resolved I had to watch it.

When I first watched Dark Days, I was amazed by what I had seen. I couldn’t believe that these events had actually happened and wondered what each person’s life was like now, some twenty years after its release. I came away inspired by the strength of the people portrayed and their ability to not only survive, but thrive, find solace, and make a home. It’s pretty incredible what the human spirirt can withstand when its determined and Dark Days is a wonderful example of that. Dark Days is one of the best documentaries I have ever seen. There’s so much to this story in part because it’s as much about a community and the individuals within it as it is about a place and time in history. It portrays its subjects in a very human and empathetic light, without forcing much narrative ipon its audience. We don’t hear much at all from the person behind the camera like in other documentaries. There is no narrator or person guiding us into this space other than those who we follow and the camera. This approach to me makes us feel us feel more invested in the film as the distance created by these story-telling tools is cut down considerably. Instead we hear, witness, and experience everything directly from the source, which during my viewing only made the result more meaningful and powerful.

For those weary of documentaries due to a perceived dryness or preachy nature, you need not worry with this subject. There is a lot of meat on the bone to capture interest in a compelling manner. We already discussed that exclusion of traditional documentary story-telling tools, which also cuts out that perceived preachiness as well. In terms of the fulfillment, you will more than likely come away from this film, glad that you tuned in. Without giving anything away here, the film’s ending is amazing and one that will certainly provide you with a feeling of fulfillment that the time invested was well worth it.

If you’d like to watch Dark Days for yourself you can find it on a variety of streaming services. At the time of this recording you can find Dark Days on Tubi. Tubi is a streaming platform with diverse offerings and the best part is…it’s free.

You can also find Dark Days on Pluto TV, which, like the aforementioned Tubi, is also free.

Finally, you can also find Dark Days on streaming services such as Prime Video, YouTube, Google Play, and Apple TV for $3.99 to rent.

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