The Panic in Needle Park (1971) on Netflix
Helen, ill after an abortion, is looked after by Bobby, a small-time dealer her boyfriend Marco owes money to. She moves in with him, and he brings her around Needle Park.
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- Rotten Tomatoes86%
Trailer
Plot summary
After an abortion that leaves her ill, Helen goes back to the apartment she shares with Marco, her boyfriend. Bobby, a small-time dealer Marco owes money to, shows her gentleness and concern. When Marco moves out, Helen chooses to live with Bobby instead of returning to her family. She finds him using drugs. Bobby takes her to the squares nicknamed Needle Park, where addicts trade and use, and introduces her to people he knows, among them his brother Hank, who makes his living by burglary. Evicted, they move into a sleazier building, and Bobby asks her to buy his heroin. Detective Hotch explains to Helen a panic in Needle Park: with the heroin supply low and prices high, addicts inform on one another to the police for favors.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about The Panic in Needle Park (1971)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Screenwriters Joan Didion and John Gregory Dunne visited Jim Morrison, lead singer of the Doors, during the recording of the album Waiting for the Sun, as he was being considered for the role of Bobby.
- On release, several European censor boards gave the film an X rating for its unflinching depiction of drug use, and it was banned outright in the United Kingdom until 1974, grouping it with other X-rated but non-pornographic films of the era like Get Carter, Straw Dogs, A Clockwork Orange and Deliverance.
- The film marked Al Pacino's first starring role in a feature and also gave future star Raul Julia his first feature film credit.
- The Panic in Needle Park is believed to be the first mainstream film to feature an actual drug injection on screen.
- Composer Ned Rorem wrote a full score for the film, but the filmmakers ultimately decided to use no music at all, leaving his unused work to surface only later as a Blu-ray bonus feature.
- Kitty Winn's performance as Helen won her the Best Actress award at the 1971 Cannes Film Festival, and the film and director Jerry Schatzberg also received a Palme d'Or nomination.
