The Panic In Needle Park -1971- __top__

That face belonged to Helen.

The Panic in Needle Park (1971) is a landmark of American New Realism, delivering an unvarnished and haunting look at heroin addiction in New York City. Directed by Jerry Schatzberg and featuring a screenplay by the legendary Joan Didion and John Gregory Dunne, the film is often remembered as the breakout performance that convinced Francis Ford Coppola to cast Al Pacino as Michael Corleone in The Godfather . The Core Premise The Panic in Needle Park -1971-

Released in 1971, the film earned an from the MPAA (later re-rated R). This was not for explicit sex, but for the unflinching depiction of drug use and the "lifestyle." The X rating effectively killed its box office potential. Studios did not know how to market a film that had no heroes, no police victory, and no death scene to serve as a warning. That face belonged to Helen