The Panic in Needle Park (1971)

Directed by

Jerry Schatzberg

Genre

drama film

Country

United States

Runtime

1h 53m

Rated

R

Rating

6.8 of 10 from 374 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

Two young people in New York City fall into addiction and a destructive relationship. Their lives unravel as they struggle with heroin and rely on stealing and hustling to support their habits.

bleakrawgrittyintimateharrowingmelancholicslow-burnunsettling

What happens

The Panic in Needle Park is a 1971 American drama film directed by Jerry Schatzberg and starring Al Pacino (in his first lead role) and Kitty Winn. The screenplay is written by Joan Didion and John Gregory Dunne, adapted from the 1966 novel by James Mills. The film portrays life among a group of heroin addicts who hang out in "Needle Park" (a nickname at that time for the Verdi Square–Sherman Square area of Manhattan's Upper West Side). The film is a love story between Bobby (Pacino), a young addict and small-time hustler, and Helen (Kitty Winn), a restless woman who thinks Bobby is charismatic. She becomes an addict, and life goes downhill for them as their addictions worsen, eventually leading to a series of betrayals. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

Trailer

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