Saw “The panic in the needle park” today. It’s the movie which coppola supposedly showed to the producers to convince them that Al Pacino could play the Michael Corleone’s role. The panic in the needle park as the name suggests is about the dangers of drug abuse. Al pacino is a small time crook and an addict, living in the Sherman Street (the needle park), he meets Kitty Winn quite accidentally and they both fall in love. At first life’s good and they are happy, but slowly Winn also becomes an addict owing to Pacino’s indifference when he’s fully doped. And then “Panic” arrives --- a situation where drugs become scarce on the streets and their price escalates. Then their lives go spiraling down and their desperation takes them on a path of self-destruction.
A particular mention must be made of the shots where they show the injection of drugs into blood which are almost physically painful. There is no music in the movie and there’s constant street-car noise that accompanies the whole movie.The performances are excellent, pacino proving that he doesn’t need a coppola to make him act. It’s in fact the first movie that I have seen in which Pacino does not wield a gun. The movie pretty much reminds of “Requiem for a dream”, but this isn’t a tear-jerker and there is quite a charm attached to this 1970 movie that makes it a little more appealing to watch, though there should be no doubt that “requiem” is a far more disturbing movie. This still is a strong stuff(was banned in UK for 4 years).All in all, a must-see movie.
This isn't the lengthy injection scene exactly, it's one of the shorter injection scenes and pretty much has the same effect.
1 comment:
drugs, needles, panic- another fine addition to my must-avoid list. still dont have the stomach for such disturbing cinema. thanks for the review, though... keep them coming..
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