The Panic in Needle Park (1971)

a film so unique, intoxicating and bizarre that it not only demands another viewing, but is also forgivable as a satirical comedy where the jokes eventually take the back seat.

After playing with our expectations, this turns out to be a very different sort of film.

While it is a pity that the story wasn't told with more visual finesse, this is trivial compared to our real-world problems. It takes a good movie to put that into perspective.

Great story, amazing characters, superb action, enthralling cinematography. Yes, this is something I am glad I spent money on.

"The Panic in Needle Park" is an incredibly unpleasant film...which is what you'd expect about a film that centers around two heroin addicts living in New York. So, if you are looking for a film to make you smile or a good date film, do NOT see this movie! In fact, that is the biggest problem with the picture...most folks won't wanna see two people slowly destroying themselves. Most folks watch films to be entertained. Now I am NOT saying it's a bad film and it might be a good one to show teens, as it shows how wretched a life hooked on drugs can be...though there are a few more recent films which make drug use seem a lot more unpleasant, such as the brilliant but hard to watch "Requiem for a Dream".The film has very little in the way of plot. It simply shows two addicts who are in love, Bobby and Helen (Al Pacino and Kitty Winn), as they slowly degenerate...sinking lower and lower and lower through the course of the movie. At first, Bobby is very glib...and fun to be with and Helen seems rather innocent. Naturally, this doesn't last and both sink deeper and deeper into their habit. Bobby claims he's a 'chipper' (a casual user who is not addicted) but after a while he's dealing and overdoses. Helen begins turning tricks to buy their next fix. Unpleasant, to be sure, but mostly realistic. When they shot up, it looks real...and the language is street language...nasty and crude. But the only problem I saw is that both LOOKED healthy through the course of the film and the makeup could have been better...enabling them not only to act like addicts but to look more like them. Well made but I am strongly warning you...it's not a movie for kids or for the squeamish.

Jerry Schatzberg's grim film about junkies circa 1971 New York has become something of a classic due in large part to the fact that it contains Al Pacino's first starring role. Pacino is indeed a dynamo as Bobby, a heroin addict and petty crook (he's better at being a junkie than he is at stealing). He's well matched with Kitty Winn as his girlfriend, a free-spirited would-be artist who also succumbs to shooting up. It's so extremely realistic d and shot on the same grimy NYC streets as Paul Morrissey's TRASH, that it's sometimes hard to believe a film crew was even at work. Pacino & Winn are excellent and so is Richard Bright as Pacino's entrepreneurial brother (he's a pusher who wears a suit and tie). Raul Julia, Alan Vint (perfect as a duplicitous narc) and Kiel Martin co-star. Winn won the best actress award at Cannes. The script is by John Gregory Dunne & Joan Didion.

I've seen this movie several times and even the first time I saw it --back in the early 70's I knew that Kitty Winn's performance was vastly superior to Al Pacino's. Now I am a big fan of Al in subsequent films but he is "acting" in this film and his "movie star" quality does not aid him in this gritty film in which every actor seems like a street person EXCEPT for Pacino. Kitty Winn, a brilliant stage actress gives a heartbreaking and subtle performance from the first frame to the last. Quite astonishing and it holds up every time. Al went on the greater glory but Kitty wins the prize for this one and not just at Cannes.

So I finish my Pacino's DVD with his 1st guest-star movie. It's funny to see how great actors begin their career by playing small losers (see our national French Gégé Dipardiou) and how her fine co-star won prize at Cannes festival and has actually disappear in limbos.The first half hour is great as we see a young Pacino, lively, funny, in love but as soon as the couple starts going into dope, the movie turns too much shabby for me. The movie spares nothing about drug addiction, especially the crude injections, the terrible health and social effect and the more terrible need and run for cash to buy it. I never understand why people turn into drugs and the movie doesn't offer an explanation as well: considering all those bad sides that they can notice on their friends, why aren't they disgusted about it ? Maybe they face a biggest pain but it's not very clear...The director has a good eye as the street of NYC hasn't been so energized and the interior shots close to claustrophobic. It's not a surprise that he came from photography and had the same feeling that Lynch with his paintings: moving the frame to tell a story!