“A brilliantly performed, remarkably un-exploitative (and occasionally funny) portrayal of the ravages of drug addiction, shot with searing documentary-style realism from Schatzberg.”
Bobby (Al Pacino) is a young heroin addict and small-time hustler who hangs out in "Needle Park" (then-nickname for Sherman Square on Manhattan's Upper West Side near 72nd Street and Broadway) where he meets and falls in love with Helen (Kitty Winn). After introducing Helen to heroin their relationship develops complications... Shot entirely on location, with a screenplay co-written by Joan Diddion and featuring a young Al Pacino in his first staring role (attracting the attention of Francis Ford Coppola in the process), Panic in Needle Park is as raw and gritty a piece of 70s filmmaking as you'd expect.
