MovieChat Forums > The Panic in Needle Park (1971) Discussion > Didnt expect it to be this good

Didnt expect it to be this good

posted 14 years ago by sgraf_x
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I thought it perfectly captured the downward spiral of drug addiction, especially how nothing supersedes the addicts compulsion to get high. Not love, self-respect, morality or loyalty can supplant the addicts commitment to the high. The de-construction of Helen was truly amazing to watch and felt as authentic as any I have ever seen.

A lot of commentators and posters comment about how much of the films bleak and dismal atmosphere is a reflection of the 70's in America. Actually nothing could be further from the truth. The 70's were a rather carefree and uncomplicated decade. This is a tale that could be told today and would still have the same exact bleakness.

A contemporary film that is very similar to this in tone and story is Requiem for a Dream, also a great film, which was released in 2000 and is even more bleak and darker than Panic. Its the nature of the addiction lifestyle that makes stories like these grim and bleak not any particular period of time.

This is just yet another great film from the 70's, a period of time where film-making was as independent as it ever was.

There is NO Gene for the Human Spirit.

[–] franzkabuki 14 years ago

The 70´s weren´t "carefree and uncomplicated" in the least - it was a time of severe economic downturn and represented the disillusionment, the social hangover after the idealistic 60´s when, for a time, anything seemed possible.

Also, American filmmaking of the time was hardly as "independent" as you make it out to be - it´s more that, for a relatively short time, gritty and serious dramas were actually pretty good business.

"facts are stupid things" - Ronald Reagan