Dark Days is an amazing movie, and thanks to DVD technology it’s even a better disk. Which this film. Watch these movies.
The film “Dark Days” chronicles the lives of “homeowners” living under the Amtrak tracks in New York City. For the past twenty or thirty years abandoned sections of the New York subway were used as housing by the homeless. In the dark drank tunnels, the residents had guard dogs, locked doors, and thanks to the soviet-style infrastructure of the subway, electricity. Residents ranged from the mentally fried, to thieves, to a man you can’t help rooting for. The documentary unexpectedly complicates as armed Amtrak police order the eviction of the hidden city. The ending is almost too cinematic to be true, though generally happy endings are dogged by the eventual deaths of three people you grow to know.
A True Independent
The “making of” documentary, called “Dark Days: The Making of A True Independent” tells the equally amazing story of how the work came to be. When the filmmaker says, “I wasn’t thinking of making a film at worst,” your first reaction is “of course…..” Then you learn that had never made a movie before, had never used film before, and had never shot video before. I don’t want to ruin any of the incredible events from between the director hearing of the underground city to the multiple Sundance awards, because I want you to see for yourself.
Dark Days and Dark Days: The Making of a True Independent are both incredible. Dark Days itself slows down a bit in the middle, so the 40-minute mark may be a good time to fire of the making-of featurette. Combined, both make two solid hours. I rate this film 9 / 10.
