The Panic in Needle Park (1971)
Directed by Jerry Schatzberg
A stark portrayal of life among a group of heroin addicts who hang out in Needle Park in New York City. Played against this setting is a low-key love story between Bobby, a young addict and small-time hustler, and Helen, a homeless girl who finds in her relationship with Bobby the stability she craves.
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What critics compared The Panic in Needle Park to
If the Safdie Brothers' last feature, Heaven Knows What, evoked The Panic in Needle Park with its cinema verite observation of the New York City heroin subculture, their impressive follow-up, Good Time, sees them continuing to draw inspiration from the gritty American movies of the 1970s, albeit with their own distinctive street edge.
As many commentators have noted, “Heaven Knows What,” the previous film by Safdie brothers Benny and Josh, essentially revisited the territory covered in 1971 by “The Panic in Needle Park”—the grim, destructive reality of drug use.
The Safdies are often described in terms of what their movies owe to the city symphonies of the ’70s—movies like Jerry Schatzberg’s The Panic in Needle Park, to which Heaven Knows What drew more than its share of comparisons.
In this case, he adds a wistful, flute-infused motif that alternates with a gentle, whistled reverie, recalling the smeary character pieces of the 1970s--The Panic in Needle Park, Scarecrow--that clearly served as an influence.
Playing a down-and-out drug addict is a rite of passage for a young actor, from Al Pacino in "The Panic In Needle Park" to Robert Downey Jr. in "Less Than Zero" to Leonardo DiCaprio in "The Basketball Diaries."
From Trainspotting to The Panic in Needle Park to Requiem for a Dream , that vicious cycle that sucks users in to a living hell is given all kinds of depictions.