Main Cast: Al Pacino, Kitty Winn, Alan Vint, Richard Bright, Kiel Martin
Release Year: 1971
Country: US
Run Time: 110 minutes
MPAA Rating: R
Plot
A couple loves heroin as much as they love each other in Jerry Schatzberg's grim drug drama. After an illegal abortion at the behest of her faithless lover (Raul Julia), lost innocent Helen (Kitty Winn) finds solace with small-time crook Bobby (Al Pacino), a regular in Manhattan's "Needle Park." As Bobby shows her around his Upper West Side world, the two become inseparable. When Helen realizes that Bobby is a full-blown junkie, she joins him in addiction, and their downward spiral begins in earnest. Weathering overdoses, prostitution, betrayals, and a "panic" after a major bust, the pair manages to stick together, the habit sealing their fate. ~ Lucia Bozzola, All Movie Guide
Review
One of a cycle of drug addiction films from the early 1970s, including Born to Win and Dusty and Sweets McGee (both 1971), Panic in Needle Park reveals the dark underside of the late '60s drug culture. Rather than explain why Helen and Bobby turn to drugs, the film focuses on relationships ravaged by heroin; the ending may be abrupt but it's clear where they are headed. Panic was shot on location in New York City, with a script by Joan Didion and John Gregory Dunne based upon James Mills' reportage about Needle Park, and its atmospheric authenticity extends to excruciating close-ups of junkies laboring to find a good vein. While its grim realism earned accolades, and Winn was awarded Best Actress at the Cannes Film Festival, the realism proved too much for the paying public, despite the timely subject matter. Al Pacino's first major film performance, however, convinced Francis Ford Coppola that he was the man for The Godfather (1972). Needle Park, itself, may have since become upscale real estate, but Panic in Needle Park remains a ruthless testament to the fallacy of heroin chic. ~ Lucia Bozzola, All Movie Guide
Michael McClanathan - Sonny; Sully Boyar - Doctor; Warren Finnerty - Sammy; Bryant Fraser - Prep Schoolboy; Raul Julia - Marco; Marcia Jean Kurtz - Marcie; Nancy MacKay - Penny; Paul Mace - Whitey; Larry Marshall - Mickey; Angie Ortega - Irene; Gil Rogers - Robins; Joe Santos - DiBono; Paul Sorvino - Samuels; Arnold Williams - Freddy; Anthony Palmer - Hotel Clerk; Florence Tarlow - Ward Nurse; Dora Weissman - Pawnshop Lady
Credit
Murray P. Stern - Art Director, Roger M. Rothstein - Associate Producer, Marion Dougherty - Casting, Jo Ynocencio - Costume Designer, Robert Greenhut - First Assistant Director, Jerry Schatzberg - Director, Evan Lottman - Editor, Herman Buchman - Makeup, Adam Holender - Cinematographer, Dominick Dunne - Producer, Phil Smith - Set Designer, Richard Vorisek - Sound/Sound Designer, Joan Didion - Screenwriter, John Gregory Dunne - Screenwriter, James Mills - Book Author
The film is a stark portrayal of life among a group of heroin addicts who hang out in "Needle Park" (Sherman Square) in New York City.[3] To set the atmosphere, no music was used in the film. The film's reality-like aura, shot with fuzzy, unfocused techniques, inspired future documentaries "Black Tar Heroin: The Dark End of the Street," "Shooting Up In San Francisco" and HBO's "The Corner," the latter investigating the plight of addicts living around West Baltimore's open-air drug markets. Panic' is believed to have been the first mainstream film to show , in graphic close-ups, actual drug injection. [4]
Played against this setting is a love story between Bobby (Pacino), a young addict and small-time hustler, and Helen (Kitty Winn), a restless woman who finds Bobby charismatic. The Panic In Needle Park, photographed in moving cinéma vérité-style, depicted a tender story of two young lovers trapped in heroin's ironclad grip. The movie trailers cried, “God help Bobby and Helen. They’re in love in Needle Park.” [5] She becomes an addict, and life goes downhill for them both as their addictions worsen, eventually leading to a series of betrayals. For her portrayal of Helen, Winn won the Best Actress Award at the 1971 Cannes Film Festival.[6]
^ Furek, Maxim W. (July/August 2007). “Heroin in the Cinema: The Glorification of the Junkie.” Counselor Magazine,The Magazine for Addiction Professionals.
^ "The Death Proclamation of Generation X: A Self-Fulfilling Prophesy of Goth, Grunge and Heroin" by Maxim W. Furek. i-Universe, 2008. ISBN: 978-0-595-46319-0
