I was drawn to this documentary on a number of levels. The first of course was its impactful subject matter. The unskewed look at how people have survived a tramatic past by surviving on the by-product of others is eye-opening. The second reason why I find this movie worth watching is because of the amazing remixed works of DJ Shadow. I love the shot near the beginning where the camera pans down the row of shanti houses to the tune of scratching.

I would venture to say it is even worth buying the DVD because the “Making of” is just as interesting as the documentary itself.

This documentary makes homeless people seem more like the rest of us through interviews and by showing them doing “normal” things like the rest of us do, like cooking, cleaning, taking care of pets, etc. The odd thing is that these homeless people live in an underground Amtrak tunnel near Penn Station in NYC. It is amazing how they set up there own community underground using odds and ends. I couldn’t believe that people would choose to live like that instead of going to a shelter. The filth and vermin they lived with made my stomach kind of turn. But these people were adamant about staying away from homeless shelters. I guess those places must be pretty bad. Needless to say, this documentary was pretty sobering. It was one of those things that makes you feel really lucky to have whatever you have. The end was nice. Although they got evicted from the tunnel, the homeless were able to get housing through section 8. They were so happy to be in a place of their own, no matter how simple, that it almost makes you tear up.

Oh, if you liked this, you would probably like the documentary Crackheads Gone Wild. (No, it is nothing like those Girls Gone Wild tapes they advertise for on tv, no worries.) Crackheads Gone Wild is a little graphic, but I recommend it. It definitely has shock value.

interesting and odd documentry about people who live in abandoned subway tunnels.