So the other day I decided to watch "The Panic In Needle Park" (1971 d. Jerry Schatzberg) for the first time ever. I wasn't quite sure what to expect when I was watching it. I only knew that young Al Pacino was in it and that was a good enough reason for me. haha. I am in a slight Al Pacino phase at the moment, so bare with me.
I had just seen "Dog Day Afternoon" a few days before and totally loved it. So I decided I would see this film since his other one had been so good.
(Btw, I've seen The Godfather too).
So I hoped on to Netflix instant streaming and started to watch it. At first, I was a bit confused by the story line because you just sort of jump into the whole plot kind of quickly and you don't even get a chance to learn who these characters are. So to that affect it was kinda hard to follow. Like how did this girl Helen end up where she was, on the streets homeless? It never got into too much detail about that. I suppose the director didn't really want to focus so much on their pasts as he did their growing relationship with one another and what would ultimately start to happen as the film progressed.
I really loved how the director Jerry Schatzberg made the film feel so gritty and realistic with his shots of the other homeless druggies. It gave you this sort of sense like you were there with these people and seeing the story through their eyes. It was kind of amazing how he was able to convey that throughout the film.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPzwvH2Q129o0qtLsnYVDkzAnloCcRAvX5bTM662HKsoYvZJ3ud9xun4WBJ4JWZTQbxJez_TBjokwzn4zjLITZBs866FplPpC7lOGSH7iNocf066AeqWj0_RsvcEibWZxVrTOWIKZxlYA/s640/tumblr_m8c888Y8oA1rs1ef6o1_1280.jpg)
Al Pacino's performance in the film was totally believable and raw. I really enjoyed seeing the relationship between his character Bobby and Kitty Winn's character Helen blossom and transform throughout the film. They go through this amazing push and pull type of relationship as they are both spiraling out of control because of their addiction. In the beginning I felt this great happiness that they had found one another but as the film went on I wondered if they weren't both just messing up each others lives.
Some of the scenes in the film were hard for me to look at, mostly the heroine use. I have a thing with needles and it's not good for me to watch. But other than that it wasn't too graphic of a film by my standards anyway. I think that this film really gets down to the core of what it was like to be hooked on hard drugs in the 1970's and I'm sure a lot of it still rings true today. You really get to see what the ups and downs are like for these people who got completely sucked into the drug community and how it changed their lives for the worse. But I believe that it also brings awareness to the fact that these kinds of drugs are really dangerous and have the ability to take away life in an instant, just for a short high.
Overall, I think that this was a really great film. It made me look at certain situations in life differently. And helped me to understand people and their addictions better. It's a really long drawn out process and you have to want to get better for yourself or else you'll keep spiraling out of control.
Rating:
★★★★☆ 4/5 stars
Until Later,
Morgan
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