I had never heard of the documentary Carts Of Darkness (2008) until Chris Cobilis wrote about it for a past issue of the VHS Tracking zine; recently, another friend, Coel, also recommended it. The film itself is only an hour long, and is available to stream for free on YouTube (and is also on Tubi). Directed by Murray Siple, I was surprised to see that he includes himself in the documentary as an occasional narrator and on-camera interviewer. A former skateboarder and snowboarder, and director of extreme-sports videos, Siple is paraplegic after a car accident. His return to making films again – this film – was on account of seeing guys racing shopping carts down the steep roads of the North Vancouver area. Outside of the city and in the wealthier suburbs, these shopping cart racers are an entry point into the homeless community of this area. Siple interviews a few men who live off-the-grid, either in the woods or without power in a camper van, and how they make their money collecting bottles and cans. It’s mainly one guy, an ex-con named Big Al, who makes up the cart-racing subculture; the carts are used to get through suburbs quickly to collect cans and bottles, but Al also uses it as a way to have fun, race friends for money. This is a very direct and empathetic film. Siple states clearly that “people make assumptions about the help I need when they see me, much like they would when they see these men collect cans.” There could be a version of this that is longer and structurally hits its themes harder, or delves into these guys’ lives more, but Siple is respectful, and is content to sit and listen to these guys talk, as well as be their accomplice, filming the cart-racing much like a skateboard video. Recommended.
VHS Tracking 