The Panic in Needle Park

Plot synopsis:
In New York City, soft-spoken Helen returns to the apartment she shares with her boyfriend Marco after enduring an unhygienic and inept abortion. Although Helen becomes ill from the procedure, Marco is satisfied because he was able to procure the abortion through bartering, and thus did not have to expend any money. When Marco leaves briefly to collect some cash, Bobby, an amiable small-time drug dealer to whom Marco owes money, shows unexpected gentleness and concern for Helen. Soon after, when Helen is hospitalized for profuse bleeding, Bobby sneaks in after visiting hours and tells her that Marco has gone away. Briefly, Helen considers returning to her dysfunctional family in Fort Wayne, Indiana. However, after she is released from the hospital, she moves in with Bobby. As they are walking together, Bobby steals a television out of a parked van and pawns it for money to buy drugs. At his apartment, Bobby declines Helen's invitation to have sex until she feels better. When she awakens to find him taking drugs, he explains that he is not an addict, but only "chipping."At Sherman Square, which has been nicknamed "Needle Park" because it is a hangout for drug dealers and addicts, Bobby introduces Helen to various acquaintances that make up his social group of drug customers. At a cheap luncheonette, she meets Bobby's older brother Hank, who wears a suit and burgles for a living. In an apartment used by several addicts, Helen witnesses the intricate ritual of "shooting up" or preparing and injecting the heroin into a vein, and listens to their discussion of the price and availability of drugs. On the street, Bobby becomes anxious when drugs he has paid for are not in the telephone booth where he is to pick them up. After tracking down the man who sold him the drugs, he is re-directed to look into a trash can. That night his drug-taking renders him unable to make love to Helen.When they are evicted for non-payment of rent, Bobby suggests to Helen that she return home, but she refuses and they move into a sleazier apartment. After Bobby asks her to deliver money to Freddy, one of his suppliers, Helen realizes Bobby has not given her enough money to pay for the drugs and that she will be expected to make up the difference by having sex. While Helen is negotiating with Freddy, Hotch, a policeman on the drug squad, and his partner arrest them. As his partner convinces Freddy to assist them in a sting, Hotch explains to Helen about what it's like when there is a "panic." He explains that when the drug supply on the street is low, everyone begins to turn one another into the police, in return for favors. Unexpectedly, Hotch releases Helen without booking her and she returns to Bobby, who begins to use drugs more heavily. While Bobby spends more time sleeping, Helen, who all along has only observed the others, begins to shoot up.Some time later, Bobby is exuberantly playing stick ball with some children, when he passionately kisses Helen and looking into her eyes, realizes she is now using. In his favorite diner, as the drugged Helen sits listlessly beside him, Bobby proposes. Upon hearing the news, Hank asks what they will live on and doubts Bobby's supposition that he can quit drugs. Hank offers Bobby work as a burglar, but Helen rejects the idea, saying instead that she will get a job. However, Helen who has been hired as a waitress, does a terrible job and soon quits. Just before Bobby is to assist Hank in a burglary, he overdoses. With the aid of other users, Helen finds Bobby and helps him through the ordeal, but Hank is angry with Bobby for jeopardizing his plans. Reluctantly, he allows Bobby to assist him on another night, but the theft goes awry and Bobby is arrested. While he is in jail, Helen finds it harder to get drugs and has sex with Hank, in exchange for heroin.When Bobby is released, he and Helen have a big fight, after which Bobby considers moving to the country, but they agree that it is not feasible. Bobby persuades Santo, a major drug dealer, to let him handle distribution in Needle Park, and is directed to an apartment where the heroin is being prepared and bagged. Meanwhile, as they are in need of immediate money, Helen turns to streetwalking. After Bobby distributes Santo's drugs, Needle Park residents are happy to have a reliable source for a while. Bobby tells Helen that he stashed some drugs away as an insurance in case he is arrested, so that he can pay for a lawyer. However, when he finds the drugs missing from his hiding place, he accuses Helen of stealing it. As her health deteriorates from increasing drug use, their relationship suffers. Hotch, who is not surprised to watch her fall from an innocent woman in love to a drug abusing prostitute, keeps an eye on her and, when she is arrested with her john, he asks the arresting officer not to book her, as he needs her for something he is planning.When her mother writes, asking Helen to meet friends who are visiting the city, Helen is reluctant, but dresses up, carefully trying to hide the track marks on her arms. Instead of meeting them, however, she picks up a young virginal customer. When Bobby finds her, he scares the boy away, but then he and Helen begin to laugh. Realizing they have been too serious, they take the ferry to the countryside, where they buy a puppy. On the return trip, they discuss making a fresh start and Helen suggests that they move out of Needle Park, but Bobby refuses and convinces her to go into the men's room to shoot up. When the dog begins to whine, he puts it outside the door. Afterward, Helen discovers the dog missing and finds it just before it falls off the end of the ferry and into its machinery.Desolate, she goes to see Marco, who is back from his trip, but soon returns to Bobby and steals drugs from him. Needing a "fix," she goes to a doctor, falsely claiming she needs drugs for a painful kidney stone. Aware that she is an abuser, the doctor refuses to write a prescription for her, but gives her some samples, telling her never to return. She takes some of the pills, but is arrested for selling the rest to minors. Hotch warns her about the dangers of the women's prison and knowing that Bobby can lead them to Santo, offers to arrange for the charges to be dropped if she will help them to catch Bobby in the act of picking up a drug shipment. When she refuses, Hotch explains that she will go to jail for one to three years, but Bobby, who knows how to work the system, will probably only serve six months. Later, at home, Bobby elatedly tells her that there will be no more "panic" after the new shipment arrives, saying that Santo is giving him as much as he can sell, and is allowing him to have people work under him.In the next two weeks, Hotch approaches Helen several times, reminding her of the pending trial. Depressed, she increases her drug use and spends days in bed, until even Bobby is annoyed. Helen finally agrees to help the police and late one night Helen and Hotch watch, as a squad of policemen apprehend Bobby, who is in possession of a large quantity of heroin. Spotting her on the street and feeling betrayed, Bobby yells, "I was gonna marry you!" Months later, when he is released, Helen waits for him at the gate. Although his first impulse is to rebuff her, he calls to her and they walk off together.[4]

Tags: romantic

Review:
That's also the reason for its timelessness and artistic value.Al Pacino and Kitty Winn, who plays the two main characters, Bobby and Helen, are very realistic in showing the ups and mostly the downs in the life of a drug addict.
"The Panic in Needle Park", from the director Jerry Schatzberg is not only one of the most significant films of the 'New Hollywood' era but a slice of New York's early 70's life with an undeniable documentary value.The film follows the lives of heroin-addicted people in the intersection between Broadway and the 72nd, the only place outside Harlem, where you could get the drug : Sherman Square aka 'Needle Park' during a severe panic, which, in the business jargon, refers to a period where there's no supply.
The camera works as the eye of the viewer and I challenge those who'd doubt the authenticity of the images not to cover their eyes during the close-ups, where you can witness a needle piercing a vein and injecting the stuff and all the immediate effects : rolling eyes, turning heads, licked lips, the horrific graphicness making you wonder why so much people fall in that spiral.To answer this question, the movie needed to detach itself from its own tone, and provides a story; it did even better with a romance, and quite a poignant and realistic one.
Every junky accepts this eventuality, and when one is having an overdose, there's a disturbing mix of humanity when the friends are trying to awake him and hostility when the house locater who doesn't want troubles.Bobby, Helen and the others are all regular people, with families, babies, living in lively neighborhoods, but they're caught in a horrific spiral that undermines any attempt of regular romance and the relationship between Bobby and Helen survives to all the difficulties, because their relationships is not totally disinterested : Helen can get the heroin from Bobby, and if he's in jail, she can get it from his brother Hank, played by Richard Bright.
And the acting is crucial here, Kitty Winn, who won the Cannes Award for Best Actress, is heart-breaking in this role, as her eyes, looks, cries and laughs convey the mix of vulnerability of a girl who still wants to be legitimate, and the toughness of the drug-addict who finally knows the ropes.
Both actors are wonderful, and a honorable mention to Bright who illuminates his scenes, with a character so unlike the laconic Al Neri.Yes, it's hard to believe both Pacino and Bright, would work together again in one of the greatest movies ever : "The Godfather", so if not for the beautiful romance and the extraordinary portrayal of New York's heroin-addiction, the movie launched one of the most successful movie careers and just for Al Pacino, I say : thank you, Mr. Schatzberg !.
So I was scrolling through a Borders outside of London one day, looking at all the expensive R2 DVDs I didn't have enough money for, when I spotted a movie I had never even heard of starring Al Pacino - "The Panic in Needle Park." It had the same front cover (style-wise) as "Scarface," which was an obvious marketing ploy.
(And no, I don't use heroin.) The film stars Al Pacino in one of his very first roles as a heroin addict living in New York City, an era dubbed "Needle Park," where all the junkies hang out.
(I believe I saw the exact same park in another drug movie released the same year, called "Born to Win," starring George Segal and Robert De Niro.) Pacino gets a girlfriend and gets her hooked on heroin.
(I recall reading they actually hired heroin addicts for the "shoot-up" scenes, something that would never be allowed today.) I can understand how some people might be put off by the slow pace of the movie and say, "How can I be expected to enjoy a movie with such vile characters?" However, I thought it was handled well - it's on the verge of exploitation sometimes (primarily the scenes which show the junkies shooting up) but for the most part manages to walk a careful line between exploitation and study.Pacino's performance is one of his best ever, which is a shame because he never receives credit for it.
It's one of the only roles where he isn't in control and although he does yell a few times, for the most part he's more calm and subdued - Michael Corleone as a drug addict."The Panic in Needle Park" is a great, underrated film and I highly recommend it to anyone who thinks they can handle the content.
It captures the pervasive feeling of nihilism perfectly well, particularly on the subject of drugs.The not so great colour and sound strangely add to the experience in making the film seem more documentary than a tale of two young people caught in the vortex of addiction.Pacino and Winn both play remarkably believable leads.
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.
There is nothing quite like this movie, even as it lacks propulsion.Al Pacino is so good, so convincing, as Bobby, you can almost picture the movie is a documentary and this slightly charming junkie is a real guy who was willing to be filmed.
Until the mid-Fifties, the taboo theme of drug addiction in films was either fleetingly mentioned - as in MYSTERY OF THE WAX MUSEUM (1933) - or ridiculously overblown as in the REEFER MADNESS (1936) school of movies but, with the appearance of films like Otto Preminger's THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN ARM (1955) and Nicholas Ray's BIGGER THAN LIFE (1956), Hollywood producers showed that they had learned to treat it in an objective, mature and sensitive way.
But, with the the runaway box office success of EASY RIDER (1969), the subject got its own unexpected little niche and the general public was for the first time allowed to wallow in a no-holds-barred view of the junkie lifestyle; of course, I am discounting films like Shirley Clarke's THE CONNECTION (1961; which I've never watched myself) and the Andy Warhol Factory movies which are anything but mainstream Hollywood products.I can't say I've watched many of those 1970s drug-related movies and, off hand, only John G.
Even so, I'd say that THE PANIC IN NEEDLE PARK is arguably the bleakest, grittiest and most realistic screen portrayal of drug addiction I've ever watched - at least, until Darren Aronofsky's REQUIEM FOR A DREAM (2000); for one thing, while most films of the era made extensive use of the contemporaneous rock scene, this one has no musical underscoring at all.Frankly, I've had the film on VHS recorded off Cable TV for over 10 years and only now managed to catch up with it because my father rented it on DVD (and, subsequently, turned it off before long)!
Indeed, the scrappy first half-hour is rather off-putting and dreary and it wasn't until the main protagonists - Al Pacino (already superb in just his second movie) and Kitty Winn (who would go on to win the Best Actress Award at the Cannes Film festival for her work here) - really got together that I started to genuinely care about their plight; perhaps the most moving scene they share is their short-lived idyll in the country where the couple even purchase a dog with the little money they have (but lose it almost immediately through negligence when the urge for the drug habit kicks in once again).
Helen becomes romantically involved with Bobby, and he initiates her into the sordid world of heroin use.This film is shot to look like a documentary.
Most films nowadays lack this, so directors should watch this movie and try to reach this naturality.Al Pacino is great in this movie as an addicted to heroin, it was probably because of his performance in this movie that he got the part in "Godfather"..
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.
Another early 1970s classic off my list that was quite well worth waiting for: Raw, stripped-off and deeply affecting account of young girl (Winn) in NYC who falls in love with a street hustler & drug user (a pre-Godfather Pacino), and slowly falls into addiction herself.
Jerry Schatzberg made me believe in this place, the 'needle park', and how desperate and dire the straits were for the people, how one could so quickly fall into a life of ruin and repetition: where's the next fix, how can I score, what I can I do to score, I'll sell drugs, have sex for drugs, deal for whatever, lie, cheat, steal, etc.For some who have seen their share of drug movies, this won't be too new.
The background actors (i.e. the ones not Al Pacino, Kitty Winn or a few other recognizable faces) all look like they could be from the neighborhood or around- one such black character playing a drug pusher looks like he was plucked right out of the streets for his one scene.
Other bit players get their moments to shine too, like Raul Julia and Paul Sorvino.While it may not seem quite as contemporary with its treatment of drug- use as Requiem for a Dream for a modern audience, it holds up over time as a chronicle of 70's despair, a small movie that takes its subject dead-seriously and provides many scenes that break your heart (the one with the puppy on the ferry is one such scene, and a brilliant shot showing the reaction to what happens).
This film begins with a small-time thief named "Bobby" (Al Pacino) living in New York City and having to steal in order to feed his increasing heroin addiction.
The Panic in Needle Park is about a bunch of drug-addicted New Yorkers, and it's fairly gritty and realistic.A relatively newcomer to the screen Al Pacino stars in the lead, alongside Kitty Winn.
The Panic in Needle Park is an American art film that would have found its natural home in a 42nd Street grind house—although the new print of this 1971 Jerry Schatzberg dope opera looks a lot better now than it did then.The love story.
It was an interesting world that we hadn't seen on the screen in exactly that way....And as I've said, A hidden love story deep inside the lives of two heroin junkies somewhere on Manhattan's West Side, which came out of hiding all of a sudden and what a love story it was...Opening to severely mixed reviews, The Panic in Needle Park was trashed for its incongruously fashionable creators (former fashion photographer Schatzberg, screenwriters Joan Didion and John Gregory Dunne), and is remembered mainly for its performances.
Making his film debut as the hustler-junkie Bobby, 30-year-old Al Pacino went straight to The Godfather and on to Pacino-dom; Kitty Winn, cast as his wide- eyed consort Helen, won the Best Actress award at Cannes and soon after retired in obscurity.Winn pretty much plays it as it lays—her obvious acting works with her character's weak sense of self.
Of course, once he discovers she's been supporting her habit by turning tricks, he throws the classic Pacino tantrum.The movie is filled with choice "Fun City" locations (an authentic cold water loft; the hustler-ridden Whalen's at the corner of 8th Street and Sixth Avenue), although the triangle where Broadway crosses 72nd Street stood in for the eponymous junkie hangout, a block away.Relative neorealism and an open ending were not unusual in 1971, but The Panic in Needle Park, is unusually sordid: Helen is introduced taking a crowded subway home from an illegal abortion; the movie is punctuated by close-ups of junkies shooting and booting.
Al Pacino is as usual very good here as strung out addict, Kitty Winn as Helen, a lost, displaced girl who is from Indiana, latches onto him at first thinking it would just be fun and something to do .There are the usual scenes but the street scenes on 1970's NYC are right on the mark, the trash, the people nodding off on sidewalk benches, there is nothing glamorous in this film (It took the later 90's to glamorize heroin "chic" with Kate Moss and the NY fashion world) There are the scenes where Pacino works for his "brother" Hank and gradually gets more and more involved with supplying, although they seem to use most of it and move from yellow, dirty hotel rooms each week.
The 90s, via Pulp Fiction and Trainspotting, may have married heroin use to cool soundtracks and dizzying visuals, but back in the 70s, determinedly downbeat dramas left potential users in absolutely no doubt about the hellish outcome, should they dally with the demon poppy.While writers Dunne and celebrated New Wave journalist Didion don't exactly redress the balance, they at least provide an honest insight into the junkie's dilemma, the close-up physical mechanics, and attendant selfishness of aptly-named users: as resident narc Hotchner (Vint) states, "Everyone in this situation will rat on someone else, always." Both leads are outstanding; Pacino, in particular, is an unstoppable ball of kinetic energy, intermittently punctured into floppy submission by a dirty hypodermic - a powerhouse performance which persuaded Paramount execs to cast him in The Godfather.
The film is subdued, just like it's drug-injected characters, with no music at all throughout, his camera never intrudes, and his story glamorizes nothing and betrays nothing.Against this sumptuously grainy backdrop of urban decay is an unfussy love story between a young junkie hustler played by Al Pacino in his first film role, and a restless woman played by Kitty Winn who finds herself attracted to him.
This film does contain graphic drug scenes, rendered disturbing because the characters are so nonchalant and apathetic."The Panic In Needle Park" is basically a character study of urban drug addicts, a kind of week-in-the-life-of snapshot of their dreary lives.
The Most Realistic Heroin Film I Ever Saw. This movie is a stark portrayal of life among a group of heroin addicts who hang out in "Needle Park" in New York City.Featuring a young Al Pacino, very bouncy, very punchy, far removed from the gangster image he has been typecast into.
When i watched Panic In the Needle Park, i only thought of one thing.This movie is merely a manifestation of the lives of drug addicts.It seems as though heroin addicts' lives were closely 'studied' and just a portion of it was extracted and then filmed.Therefore it was the most realistic movie i've seen, and a change in pace for me to see a 'drug story' from a more real and non glamorous perspective.It can be disturbing at times and there is no real climax but to me that's particularly where the beauty in this movie lies.
"The Panic in Needle Park" is an interesting, but ultimately empty film about one couple's addiction with heroin on the rough streets of New York City.
Al Pacino took advantage of his role in 1971s `The Panic in Needle Park' to propel his career that would reach superstar status in the next years `The Godfather.' Pacino plays a pathetic heroin addict that is hell bent on bringing down his new girlfriend, Helen (Kathy Winn) with him.
The realism and location shooting of this gritty inner city drug tale seems to be way ahead of its time as the disgusting reality is portrayed much as it is in later, more graphic films such as `Sid & Nancy,' `Drugstore Cowboy,' `Basketball Diaries' and `Trainspotting.'As the movie progresses Helen moves from being just a girlfriend to being another junkie to being a prostitute that will do anything with anyone in order to the next fix.
So now, a day later, I hear the same word in pretty much the same context when Helen (Kitty Winn) tries to tell Bobby (Al Pacino) that she's not hooked on heroin.
Al Pacino and Kitty Winn star as lovers Bobby and Helen who live in the city and who are addicted to heroin.
"TPINP" is the story of Bobby (Al Pacino, pre-Corleone), a small time heroin addict and hustler who becomes attracted to the quiet, shy and drug-free Helen (Kitty Winn, of "The Exorcist" fame) and slowly seduces her into his world of addiction, broken lives, paranoia and desperation.
It was movies like this one that did little to endear the city to those who've never been there and probably did damage to the tourist trade there.In his first lead role in a major motion picture Al Pacino stars as Bobby, a low level thief and junkie who lives day by day on the streets of New York.
This appears to be Pacino's 2nd film (my key reason for watching it) and he plays a young man hooked on heroin who is also a small-time burglar to help pay for his habit.
Episodic and sad, The Panic in Needle Park as a pitiful slice-of-life character study stands out amongst the other drug films of the 70s in its nuanced unfolding narrative of two hapless New York addicts and their ability to survive and stick together under the weight of Police tensions and their own faults.The excellent Kitty Winn is outstanding in the role of the sensitive artist Helen, who falls in love with Al Pacino's drug-addicted, petty criminal Bobby.