There is a tremendous advantage to living in the subway tunnels beneath New York City. You don't get assaulted by kids, harassed by cops or robbed in homeless shelters. You're on your own in ways perhaps some of the most privileged of us could see as a lifestyle for which to yearn.
Marc Singer's dumpster-diving exposé documents an bizarrely remarkable world present underneath the streets of Manhattan. In the everlasting blackness of the tunnels, these apparent retreads back to the primordial soup make their homes by assembling sheds out of cardboard and wood, and stuff them with furniture schlepped down from the surface. They have electricity and water that they will never run out of because they don't pay bills on them, they even have bare-necessity stoves, refrigerators and TV set.
Life is opportunistic and stumbles on its route everywhere it can survive at all, and there is some sort of evolutionary reversal regarding these subterranean residents, who have found a nook where they can carry on with their lives without the bureaucracy, conflicts, civilization and politics of the world just above them. They are not, they tend to point out, homeless. Singer learned about these people and went looking, and then came back to film them, which they helped to do with their own makeshift resources. Sooner or later making 16mm-shot Independent Spirit Award-winning documentary became his big passion. He poured all of his money into it, until he himself was homeless. It is an indelible experience about people who have tumbled through the crevices but, in spite of everything that has happened in their harrowing pasts, share many of the basic aspirations that make them just like you and me.
Several of these people keep cats to keep the rats away. Rats and a lack of protection from harsh weather are the significant day-to-day issues, and stealing, which seems to be rare. In contrast, people help each other out. Some show Singer photos of their pets, who are their families. Aged reminiscences still ache. For instance, Dee is a woman who has a crack addiction. Her story is anyone's worst nightmare. It is a wonder to see her as the sum total of her past decisions, misfortune and tragedy.
The occupants climb to the outside for food, most of the time in the garbage, and neat stuff. They rummage around for cans and bottles that can be cash in. Every so often they happen upon things they can sell. To refer to a homeless person as a loser, irresponsible or lazy is either uninformed or badly informed, because he or she have to work without end simply to continue living. To pass them by saying, "Get a job," is an unpleasant misunderstanding, considering their prospects. This unadulterated piece of palpable, tangible reality is the visual rendering of people who persistently aim to sustain some dignity in the face of personal disaster.
The film's crew comprised the subjects themselves, who rigged up makeshift lighting and steadicam dollies on Amtrak railroads, some abandoned, some just fortunately not being used at the moment. Singer himself had never made a movie before, and saw the production of this compelling picture as a way to achieve better accommodation for these people. And it won a Best Cinematography Award at Sundance!
Marc Singer's dumpster-diving exposé documents an bizarrely remarkable world present underneath the streets of Manhattan. In the everlasting blackness of the tunnels, these apparent retreads back to the primordial soup make their homes by assembling sheds out of cardboard and wood, and stuff them with furniture schlepped down from the surface. They have electricity and water that they will never run out of because they don't pay bills on them, they even have bare-necessity stoves, refrigerators and TV set.
Life is opportunistic and stumbles on its route everywhere it can survive at all, and there is some sort of evolutionary reversal regarding these subterranean residents, who have found a nook where they can carry on with their lives without the bureaucracy, conflicts, civilization and politics of the world just above them. They are not, they tend to point out, homeless. Singer learned about these people and went looking, and then came back to film them, which they helped to do with their own makeshift resources. Sooner or later making 16mm-shot Independent Spirit Award-winning documentary became his big passion. He poured all of his money into it, until he himself was homeless. It is an indelible experience about people who have tumbled through the crevices but, in spite of everything that has happened in their harrowing pasts, share many of the basic aspirations that make them just like you and me.
Several of these people keep cats to keep the rats away. Rats and a lack of protection from harsh weather are the significant day-to-day issues, and stealing, which seems to be rare. In contrast, people help each other out. Some show Singer photos of their pets, who are their families. Aged reminiscences still ache. For instance, Dee is a woman who has a crack addiction. Her story is anyone's worst nightmare. It is a wonder to see her as the sum total of her past decisions, misfortune and tragedy.
The occupants climb to the outside for food, most of the time in the garbage, and neat stuff. They rummage around for cans and bottles that can be cash in. Every so often they happen upon things they can sell. To refer to a homeless person as a loser, irresponsible or lazy is either uninformed or badly informed, because he or she have to work without end simply to continue living. To pass them by saying, "Get a job," is an unpleasant misunderstanding, considering their prospects. This unadulterated piece of palpable, tangible reality is the visual rendering of people who persistently aim to sustain some dignity in the face of personal disaster.
The film's crew comprised the subjects themselves, who rigged up makeshift lighting and steadicam dollies on Amtrak railroads, some abandoned, some just fortunately not being used at the moment. Singer himself had never made a movie before, and saw the production of this compelling picture as a way to achieve better accommodation for these people. And it won a Best Cinematography Award at Sundance!