Life in the Tunnel - Dark Days

November 9, 2008 1:19 AM

Sunday Morning Movie - A moving and fascinating documentary, Dark Days is on Google Video. Marc Singer lived in the tunnel, and started filming with the help of his fellow tunnel dwellers. Trivia here. Inevitable Wikipedia link here.

The online video can't possibly do justice to the stunning black and white imagery, but it's worth seeing in any form. I'd encourage anyone to add this to your Netflix Queue, or get the DVD, which includes the director's commentary.

posted by Fuzzy Skinner (19 comments total)

Music by DJ Shadow, back when he was, dare I say it? good.

Also please note that this is not Marc Singer of Beastmaster fame.
posted by infinitewindow at 2:20 AM on November 9, 2008

I'm barely 4 minutes into this and I can already tell I'm really going to enjoy it. Thanks for posting it here.
posted by Venadium at 2:23 AM on November 9, 2008

Awesome! I remember hearing about this when it came out and I been meaning to watch it ever since.
posted by sophist at 2:29 AM on November 9, 2008

If you get the chance, watch it on DVD, as it was filmed in 16mm b&w, and a lot of the imagery is really enhanced by the grain of the film IMO. Really moving.
posted by suedehead at 2:42 AM on November 9, 2008

This follows a bunker post from three days earlier.

For a moment I thought that this was the new Republican message: "Everybody hunker down underground with Dick Cheney until we Mole People can come back to the surface!"

Seriously though, it's a good film (I've seen it before). Thanks for the link.
posted by twoleftfeet at 2:45 AM on November 9, 2008

We love Dark Days here on Metafilter, as it combines so many things we like.
posted by asok at 3:53 AM on November 9, 2008

Wow. What a coincidence. I've wanted to watch this movie since it came out 8 years ago, and i finally got around to downloading it and watching some of it last night.
posted by svenni at 4:00 AM on November 9, 2008

Definitely second getting the DVD. The photography is really just stunning. And yes, DJ Shadow's music throughout is brilliant. Really incredible outsider effort.
posted by Aversion Therapy at 5:26 AM on November 9, 2008

I was apparently the only one in the film department in college who hadn't seen this in some class or other. Everyone said it was unbelievable. Thanks.
posted by Peevish at 5:50 AM on November 9, 2008

this is not Marc Singer of Beastmaster

apparently they're going to remake V! (ot ;)
posted by kliuless at 6:09 AM on November 9, 2008

Wow. This is a brilliant documentary. Nice soundtrack too.
posted by snoktruix at 8:05 AM on November 9, 2008

Sweet. I was just reading about this film last night, and wanting to see it. Thanks.
posted by flotson at 8:54 AM on November 9, 2008

Saw this in theater.
It changed how I viewed the city I walk around in.
I've recommended it to many people, glad to see it's still garnering attention.
Also, when I saw it, I thought it was the same Marc Singer as V, and it improved my opinion of him mightily. HA!
posted by Busithoth at 9:18 AM on November 9, 2008

I saw this at the Chicago film festival when it came out. The director Marc Singer was there. He had never filmed anything...ever.

Two really interesting things about the film: he shot on black and white because a friend in the film "would look cool". Secondly, they shot and shot and shot and never looked at their film. It sat in canisters until they came "above ground". They could have had multiple reels of nothing. When they asked if he was going to make another film he said he didn't think so. That this was a film that just needed to be made.
posted by zerobyproxy at 10:06 AM on November 9, 2008

Watched it tonight. Remarkable movie--a close look at people we rarely get close to. And they're nice people.
posted by flotson at 6:32 PM on November 9, 2008

Also please note that this is not Marc Singer of Beastmaster fame.

Well, goddammit, thinking it would be was 75% of the reason I clicked the link. Glad I did, though.
posted by middleclasstool at 7:12 PM on November 9, 2008

This is my second opportunity to talk up Slake's Limbo on Metafilter, and by God I'm taking it. As a kid Slake's Limbo adjusted the way I looked at the world; it was like I started seeing everything in cutaway, in exploded view. This movie is reminding me really strongly of that experience.
posted by penduluum at 7:31 PM on November 9, 2008

Regarding the Marc Singer/Beastmaster thing... I almost put a line in the FPP that it was not that Marc Singer. I confess that I briefly thought maybe it was him as well, but the idea seemed so far-fetched that I dismissed it pretty quickly. And a quick web search confirmed my assumption.

The fascinating thing is that the Beastmaster Marc Singer's name is so recognizable from that one movie! Oh, the power of 1980s cable programming!
posted by Fuzzy Skinner at 8:14 PM on November 9, 2008

That was really fascinating, and sobering. I watched that on my shiny new laptop while folding laundry pulled out of my shiny new LG dryer in my shiny new house in a gated community. It gave me a lot to ponder on. The ending was much better than I expected so see, thankfully.

If they're going to remake "V" they'd better keep the "wiizzzchk BLAM!" sound effect of the aliens' blasters.
posted by Burhanistan at 9:44 PM on November 9, 2008