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September 25, 2001
Dark Days
(out of four)
One of the amazing things about New York is how, exactly, it is that people manage to live in the city. For instance, I stow away in a windowless, basement-level room roughly the size of a closet. I have friends with illegal sublets all over the city, and there was once a time when squatters living in abandoned East Village apartments could actually claim the rooms for themselves.
In the words of the inimitable Jeff Goldblum: "Life finds a way." That much is immediately clear from Dark Days, easily the best film of 2000. The modest black-and-white documentary tells the story of a dozen or so "homeless" men and women who convert an underground Amtrak tunnel plunged in darkness into a makeshift campfire community. Director Marc Singer heard stories about these strange tunnel denizens and set out to find them for himself. It's crucial to note that Singer isn't a filmmaker so much as an interested observer. After living with these forgotten souls for some time, he finally picked up a camera, hoping that making a movie about them might help them secure decent housing above ground.
Posted by Peter Debruge at 11:06 AM | Comments (0)
September 04, 2001
Salesman
(out of four)
After pornography, Christianity just might be America's biggest business. That's not what religion is about of course — pushing candles and statues, relics and rosaries, bumper stickers and Bibles — though these days Christianity and capitalism seem to go pretty much hand-in-hand. Watching Albert and David Maysles' landmark 1969 documentary, you can't help but wonder whether there might be a separate circle of hell devoted to Bible salesmen. After all, these are the guys who make their living hustling the world's number-one bestseller.
Posted by Peter Debruge at 10:24 AM | Comments (0)