Having made a reputation for himself on the New York stage, Al Pacino scorched the screen in 1971 with his performance as the hustling, drug-dealing smack addict Bobby in The Panic in Needle Park.
Documenting a small group of New York dope fiends, the film illustrates the rawness of early Seventies American cinema, director Jerry Schatzberg bringing an intense authenticity through the use of location shooting, handheld camera-work and naturalistic, near-improvised scenes.
When her artist boyfriend runs out on her after a botched back-street abortion, Helen (Kitty Winn) hooks up with Bobby, a charming, petty crook. Bobby is also a heroin addict, and introduces Helen to the world of addiction.
As with most drug films, after initial good times, things turn sour with an overdose (Bobby's) and a fall into prostitution (Helen's). All this is exacerbated by a "panic", as the heroin supply to New York dries up and desperation and misery set in.
A free-forming plot (taken from James Mills' book) allows the characters and their lives to become the story, while a sub-plot involving a police detective's attempts to nail a big-time drug dealer by using Helen and Bobby allows for a dramatic climax.
The film, which does not shy away from the harsh reality of heroin use, became notorious for scenes in grungy shooting galleries, as characters spike their veins in ugly close-up.
While everyone involved should have become major Hollywood players, only Pacino fulfilled this initial promise, his performance a year later in The Godfather making him a star.
Kitty Winn won the Best Actress award at Cannes for her heartbreaking turn, yet her only other noteworthy role was as the nanny in The Exorcist, and she has not acted again since the supernatural thriller Mirrors in 1978. Schatzberg still directs, but has not equalled this early work.
A sobering walk on the wild side, and a strong influence on Darren Aronofsky's recent heroin masterpiece Requiem for a Dream, The Panic in Needle Park is an unforgettable work of gritty brilliance.
Rob Daniel
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