The documentary "Dark Days" gives an unromanticized and fascinating glimpse of the lives of a community of homeless people surviving in a train tunnel in Manhattan.

The most interesting people we see in "Dark Days" are those — like Ralph, especially — who understand the mistakes of their younger years and appear ready to rebuild their lives above ground. Yet, they seem powerless to make that new start, trapped in a hole they can't climb out of. "At first, I gave it like a cap — two weeks. And then it became like home," says Tito, a five-year resident.

The movie has what I consider a surprise ending, which arises after Amtrak officials decide to forcibly remove the homeless people from the tunnel, and the Coalition for the Homeless comes to their defense. We have a sense of which of these people are equipped to survive in the world and which ones can't, and it would be interesting to see what has become of them a year or two after they've left the tunnel. Perhaps filmmaker Singer — who spent an amazing two years below ground and put the homeless to work in the production process — will make a much needed epilogue to cap this fascinating documentary.

Be first to comment this article

Only registered users can write comments.
Please login or register.

---