The Panic in Needle Park (Jerry Schatzberg, 1971)

While we read of those trapped in the never-ending cycle of drug-use, it is more tragic and soul-destroying to see the innocent victim pulled into it. In 1971, The Panic in Needle Park captures the story of an artist’s girlfriend Helen (actress Kitty Winn in the central-role), as she falls for heroin-addict and thief Bobby (in Al Pacino’s break-out role), one amongst the dealers and social-ills in New York’s Sherman Square – known as “Needle Park”.

Stark, arresting close-ups of needles pinching the vein and releasing their fluid are common place. The Panic in Needle Park is not a dying exposé on the hippy-culture that was rife in the 1960’s, and could hardly be considered a follow-up to pop-soundtrack drug-fuelled films such as Easy Rider and Midnight Cowboy two years prior. Instead, more akin to Trainspotting, The Panic in Needle Park is an insight into the loneliness, isolation and dependency that addiction takes hold of. Helen and Bobby need each other, but not as much as they need their next hit.  Cop-character Hotch (Alan Vint) reminds Helen that drug addicts “always rat”, while Bobby aspires for so much more – sincerely claiming he wants to marry Helen while she dreams of living in the country. Trust and loyalty is not an attribute of junkies.

Director Jerry Schatzberg films on location with grimy, yellow stained walls and handheld camera work that we would see two years later in Robert DeNiro’s breakout film, Mean Streets. Indeed, the hyper-active Johnny Boy of Scorsese’s film is an interesting contrast to the quirky, likeable rogue Bobby in Needle Park. Both are self-destructive and both need their respective posse to survive. While Bobby has Helen, Johnny Boy has Harvey Keitel’s repenting sinner to look after him. James Bell writes in Sight and Sound that, considering Schatzberg won the Palme D’Or in 1973 for Scarecrow, he should’ve joined Coppola and Scorsese in the ranks of esteemed filmmakers of the 1970’s. Responsible for the iconic sleeve of Bob Dylan’s Blonde on Blonde album, his career is surely ear-marked for a revival.

Actress Kitty Winn was celebrated for her performance too. Winn’s Helen carries genuine grace as a victim of her own loyalty to Bobby. Disintegrating before our very eyes, she is the heart of the film. Al Pacino steals every scene he’s in. The wild-eyed junkie, switching between joker and spaced-out heroin-user, he needs to be likeable enough that we believe Helen falls for him. But this has to be counter-balanced with an addictive persona that relies on drugs despite his own claims that he’s chippin’, when he’s clearly dependent. Shortly before the film starts, we realise Helen has had an abortion and her short spell in hospital provides Bobby with the opportunity to charm. He woos her by bragging about prison. These are vulnerable characters.

The bleak depiction of New York is purposefully tragic. The repetitive cycle of drug-taking, unfortunately drains the viewer forcing The Panic in Needle Park to rely on the central performances. Pacino immediately achieves recognition through his unhinged portrait of Bobby, it is only a shame others failed to break the same ground. The Panic in Needle Park is a challenging watch – and not easy to comfortably sit through. Without Kitty Winn and Al Pacino, this would simply be a shock state-of-society film. Instead, we see a blossoming relationship spiral southward. While Kitty reacts and follows Bobby, the thrust relies on Pacino. He transcends the cliché performance of the crazed, dangerous and threatening druggie. We believe in him and know that behind his amiable nature (it’s why Helen loves him) there is a broken man.

This post was originally written for Flickering Myth

150W: Bananas

Short reviews for clear and concise verdicts on a broad range of films...

Bananas (Dir. Woody Allen/1971)

Woody Allen, in such a light, comedic tone, takes on politics. “It’s all over for El Presidente” as the beginning depicts an assassination on the news with sports-style commentary before introducing Fielding Mellish (Allen), an invention tester. Marvin Hamlisch’s Mexican music sets the scene as Mellish is caught up in a revolution when attempting to woo a lovely lady in Nancy (Louise Lasser). Amongst the highlights is an homage to Chaplin’s Modern Times, as Allen is caught up in an exercise-in-the-workplace invention while a trial reveals J. Edgar Hoover as large, black woman. Bananas, like Sleeper and Everything You Wanted To Know About Sex, is Allen having fun. Poking fun at fashionable revolutions and using one-liners to nab every opportunity for a gag, Woody knows how to toy with us but flounders when sewing the story together. Also includes a small role Stallone playing a thug tops off Bananas.

Rating: 7/10

Escape From The Planet Of The Apes (Don Taylor, 1971)

"By the time the plague was contained, man was without pets. Of course, for man this was intolerable. I mean, he might kill his brother, but he could not kill his dog!"

Introduction

The world has been destroyed. How on earth can a franchise continue? In the third installment, of course, three apes managed to escape the blast. Any evidence to support this? Any mention of how this was possible? Not really, but at least we continue the story about apes Cornelius (Roddy McDowell reprising his role) and Zira (Kim Hunter). These were the Apes which protected Taylor and Brent - but did not feature in the climax of Beneath the Planet of the Apes ... because they were fixing and setting off in Taylors old spaceship. If I was in their position, when another English-speaking human appeared, I would've mentioned it to him because he could've helped out fixing the ship. At any rate, it flips the story round, and now we have the Apes as the alien, and the earth the enemy...

Presidential Comittee

Set in 1973, two years after the year of release, the apes land and initially appear as astronaut - until they take their helmets off. They remain silent because humans may see them as a threat. Outspoken Zira cannot ignore her feelings and its not long before the role-reversal starting point of the film takes a left turn and the apes and humans communicate happily in English - the language that 'everyone' speaks. Indeed, the apes know no other language.

Zira and Cornelius are questioned by the presidential committee and, initially reluctant, the Apes manage to talk happily about their experiences - but hold back vital information which may incriminate them. Vitally, their knowledge of Taylor and Brent - and the destruction of the Earth. The apes know they are from the future and the knowledge that earth will be destroyed is not something you want to discuss when you first arrive on earth. Instead, following the committee, Zira and Cornelius become celebrities. They change their clothes, begin to enjoy 'grape-juice' and our world begins to influence who they are. Except one man doesn't trust them - namely Dr. Otto Hasslein (Eric Braeden).

The True Rise of the Apes

If, like me, you are watching these films post-viewing of Rise of The Planet of the Apes, then you could argue that the story becomes inconsistent. The sacred-scrolls are what dictated the history of the apes and we see that they are now attempting to loop the time-warp element, as if the child of Zira and Cornelius became the first ape, raised on earth, to begin the dominance of the planet by apes. Cornelius expains how the first word uttered was 'No', whilst apes also began to understand the "concept of slavery". Unlike the first two films, whereby it seemed to be subtext regarding religion and blind-faith, this film begins to set-up a subtext regarding racism, and specifically associating this with slavery and thus, racism against people of either African or Carribbean descent. This is much more overt in the fourth film, but it is set-up here.

This is further explored as we see a fear amongst others of something they do not understand. Akin to David Lynch's The Elephant Man, the apes become treated like circus attractions - whereby parties are held in their hotel room and others joke and, to some extent, mock them. We are even introduced to the use of the term 'monkeys' - and how this is offensive. Most importantly, we can see the distrust Zira begins to hold towards all human - through the actions of the few. That fear and distrust works both ways - and it is understanding and honesty which ensures change.

The rise of the apes, in terms of the 'original' rise, was only turned into a film last year and these first five-films all show the consequences of Taylor's time-warp and visit to the Planet of the Apes. Zira and Cornelius are starting a different time-period by arriving on earth in 1973, which we see more-of in the next film. The 'Scared Scrolls' are semi-accurate documents about the beginning and, much like th New Testament, there are discrepencies which, in and of themselves, prove certain truths. In fairness, all of the information Cornelius recalls is in accordance to what is eventually shown in Wyatt's Rise of the Planet of the Apes.

Destructive Humans

The crux of this film is established later in the film. Initially we are simply keen ot see where the apes visit will lead - and how it will affect earth. And, simply through his sinister looks, we know we cannot trust Dr Hasslein. But his actions are much more confusing, as he realises that the earth will be destroyed in 2000 years - and (a) wholly believes it without question and (b) decides to 'protect' the earth from the destruction ... in 2000 years. The only solution is to kill the unborn child Zira is carrying (advertised on the poster as Milo ... but is named Ceasar in Conquest of the Planet of the Apes). Hasslein, again, represents the destructive nature of the human-race - whilst a fleeting visit to a circus (a clear connection to the 'circus-nature' of the Apes visit to earth) and Senor Armando, show the humanity in the human-race. I have a hard time truly believing in Hasslein's cause - as I simply don't believe in the apparent neccessity to protect a future 2000 years ahead. Who says a different future cannot be established? This is indeed covered in Battle for the Planet of the Apes, but at this point, Dr Hasslein actively, as a lone-gunman, hunts down the Ape-stronauts, to stop a future he will never witness.

In closing, as usual with these films, we need to end on an incredibly pessimistic note: Zira, Cornelius and the baby she holds are all shot and killed by Hasslein - before he himself is shot. A crane - or is helicopter? - shows the massacre. But these themes and attitudes are what place these films higher in credability than your average B-Movie Sci-Fi film. The stories present the deepest, darkest elements of mankind and how, using the Apes, our treatment of others needs to improve dramatically. But we do have a great progression to the story now as Senor Armando has a young speaking-Ape which he will raise himself. Naming the ape Ceasar.

The Last Picture Show (Peter Bogdanovich, 1971)

"Being crazy about a woman like her is always the right thing to do. Being an old decrepit bag of bones, that's what's ridiculous. Gettin' old"

Introduction

"Anarene, Texas, 1951. Nothing much has changed..." is the tag line attached to the poster. The Last Picture Show, a story that could easily be summarised as a teenage-drama based in small-town America, is so much more than that. Like Saturday Night Fever is so much more than urban teenagers dancing and Rumble Fish is so much more than rebellious youth. This is a film that, by charting the changes of primarily two-characters, we see the challenges of life itself.

It is slightly unnerving when the better teenage-drama's in the last decade are Easy A and Mean Girls. I am sure their success and critical acclaim will attest to success on their own terms, but the difference is the use of the marketing term "target audience". Rather than merely targetting the teenage-audience members, The Last Picture Show is a profound and intelligent story. In black-and-white, it is shot almost as a Western. We see tragedy, sadness, loss and regret in the characters that surround our two teenage-leads. Though we visit, unlike teenage-dramas, we are not stuck in a high-school or restricted to the confines of bedrooms and house-parties. In The last Picture Show, we see the owners of the pool-club and the operators of the cinema projectors. We see the wife of the gym-teacher and we see the owner of the factory that employs half-the-neighbourhood. You could argue that Sonny (Timothy Bottoms) and Duane (Jeff Bridges) are possibly the most unimportant characters in the story - what we are restricted to, is small-town life.

 

An Exploration of Life - and not just the Teenage Years

What is brilliant about The Last Picture Show is how profound the story is. On the surface it is a love-triangle between Sonny, Duane and Jacy (Cybill Shepherd) but this bland summary does no justice to the scope of the film. Initially a case of unrequited love between one boy and his best friends girlfriend, it then becomes more complicated as Sonny is involved with Ruth Popper (Cloris Leachman) - the wife of his gym-teacher. We then see the social separation between Jacy and Duane and how, though initially an issue of sex, parties and high-school crushes (with an unforgettable Randy Quaid as Lester), it later becomes a tragic and definitive separation between economic circumstance. Jacy is a girl from money - and she will only find a man with money. Duane and Sonny have neither.

Many more issues are raised; The conflict between the boys friendship - and the dramatic shift between the two following Jacy's interference; The need for escape from the small town - and the one's who make it, whilst there are those who don't; The mourning and loss of a pillar in the community - and how his faith in the community is what ties many to the small town; High-school bullying dramatically changes as Joe Bob (Barc Doyle) is found attempting to molest a child - despite his upstanding position and assumed moral-highground as the Preacher's Son. The fact that Joe Bob was given $1000 prior to this may underpin an attitude to money - and how money can corrupt and destroy someone. Hardly the trials and tribulations of youth.

The Inevitable Class-Divide

I am beginning to see an emerging interest I have in the depiction of class in cinema (my opinion's on Home Alone, Great Expectation's and Sleuth are a testement to that) and so this dimension to The Last Picture Show, I shall explore further.

Jacy is initially the "girl everyone loves" but, over the course of the film, we see her tragic change in character (or maybe a reveal of who she really is). Though a child of affluence, her Mother is first generation - having "scared" Jacy's Dad into being rich. But her Mum does not see the same in Jacy - indeed, she is not "scary" enough. With or without this knowledge, her attitude towards Duane is hurtful and cruel - teasing him in the back seat of a car and pushing him off as he places his hand between her legs. Then, shortly afterwards, she joins Lester at the [naked] pool party of a wealthy neighbour. She has no problem in revealing everything to everyone. She see's the divide and is happy to consent and "join" them. This attitude appears again as she marries Sonny - only to reveal that she left a note for her Father to find. In true unresponsible fashion, she is inevitably "saved" from a poorer lifestyle and the marriage is annulled. Despite Jacy's unhappiness and her need to be accepted - she is too uncomfortable on her own and she needs someone to take care of her.

 

Bogdanovich-Perfection

Like Martin Scorsese, Bogdanovich is obsessed with cinema - even today you will find him presenting many documentaries about Alfred Hitchcock, Marilyn Monroe and John Ford - so it is no suprise that technicially, Bogdanovich has created a work of Art. His use of soundtrack alone is haunting as radios and televisions are always playing in the background. I would assume this subtle choice of sound shows how life goes on around this community. It doesn't matter on the grand scale of things, because life just carries on regardless. The TV's will still be watched and the radio's will continue to be heard.

Even the opening and closing shots as the camera pans across the isolated village connects this film to the John Ford Westerns - the small community and the inhabitants we get to kow during the course of the film.

The Inevitable Reference

The Last Picture Show is in the 1001 Films to See Before You Die and upon releasing the remastered version in April 2011, it became a part of an extended run at the BFI Southbank in London. But neither of these are what brought me to this film. It was way back in 2000, watching an episode of Dawson's Creek whereby The Last Picture Show became one of the most important films in Dawson's life. The love-triangle between Dawson, Pacey and Joey clearly an echo of the triangle between Duane, Sonny and Jacy (notice how the names almost sound the same). Both groups of friends within small towns, both film and show include storylines of a high-school student engaging in a relationship with an older woman (Pacey/Tamara Jacobs - Sonny/Ruth Popper) and both created by film-fans - Kevin Williamson and Peter Bogdanovich.

Akin to Dawson and Pacey, Sonny and Duane are the centre-point of the story as both boys change dramatically due to their teenage experiences of sex and relationships. What is truly remarkable is how it shows characters who are young and desperate to get out of the situation they were born in. In one stand-out sequence, the boys leave town to visit Mexico (Bogdanovich doesn't show us their holiday, but teases us as they return, sombrero included and hangover to fend off) and when they return, the town has dramatically changed. The boys have seen the wide-world and tasted a little of what it is to be free ... but only one can take the jump and leave town ...

THX 1138 (George Lucas, 1971)

"I just feel that I need something stronger."

Introduction

With the recent posts on Star Wars, I have recently completed the next post on Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope (due to be on Man, I Love Films this Thursday). In the process I have been reading the BFI Film Classic on Star Wars by Will Brooker. He defends Star Wars by arguing how, in many ways, it is a natural progression from THX 1138 and American Graffiti. This got me thinking back to THX 1138 and how, even though I enjoyed it, I always felt it seemed a bit too similar to 2001: A Space Odyssey. At any rate, the film was experiemental and art house and, considering the sh*t Lucas has to contend with, it is worth highlighting how good this film is.

Bargain Bin

A friend and I had an afternoon to kill and we decided to select one of the £3 DVD's in HMV each and conduct a double-bill. I selected THX 1138 and he selected Sexy Beast and, with very little correlation between the two, we nevertheless found parrallels between them. For one ... they both had a central protaganist trying to 'escape' ... both concerned characters who were uncertain about their future ... and the people who, to some extent, controlled them. Anyway, they are not the same, and I doubt Jonathan Glazer looked to THX 1138 for influence on Sexy Beast. Having said that, Jonathan Glazer chose UNKLE to do the soundtrack to Sexy Beast, while UNKLE used excerpts from THX 1138 in their music - specifically on 'I Need Something Stronger' on UNKLE's 'Never Never Land' album.

Dystopian Future?

Set in a dystopian future, it is not about the future. We watched a directors cut and I believe it is the only one available  on DVD. At any rate, it is a short film clocking in at roughly 90mins. We follow THX (Sounds a little like Sex?) played by Robert Duvall, a mundane worker whose "partner" stops him taking his medication (medication to keep him, to some extent, as a drone) and he begins to develop emotions. He develops the emotion of 'love' and makes mistakes. Something that his nuclear profession does not really accommodate - and once a mistake is made, it is all about 'Big Brother' trying to track him, capture him and control him.

The film was made two years after 2001: A Space Odyssey so there are shots that I cannot help but connect to Kubrick. The white-sets and tonal duality to this future seems to reek of Kubrick - maybe there were only so many options on how-the-future-looks in the 60's and 70's. THX's love interest is LUH (sounds like Love?), played by Maggie McOmie. This is the partner who stopped THX from taking the medication. She is played with intensity that shows the fear the human feels when they are not drugged-up. All characters are bald so female characters are telling despite the initially androgynous look; they show feminine grace shots of LUH and THX are organic and graceful, completely at odds with the technical and angular backdrop. The police poke characters with sticks and THX and LUH hold each other for emotion and a car chase sequence looks flawless despite the limiting special effects available in 1971. The overall viewing experience is inevitably enhanced on repeated viewings and - akin to Blade Runner - the story becomes second-nature as the dialogue and fascinating environment is what you keeps you engaged. You can spend time dipping into this futuristic world which, in this case, is terrifying.

Escapism

Its interesting to note that Lucas and Murch wrote the film in three acts - each one focussing on some form of escape. The first act highlights THX escaping the controlled world that he lives within. The second act is more abstract by focussing on THX escaping jail: a jail whereby there are no walls or locks, and is an an open space whereby choosing to be free is all that is neccessary - thus THX alongside the sinister and mad SEN (Donald Pleasance) escapes. The final act is action-orientated by including car chases that are purely down to some exceptional lighting and cinematography. Lalo Schifrin composes the score, which though eerie and expressive I recall it to be quite minimalist - nothing too overbearing.

It is a good film and, if you like Star Wars and the Sci-Fi genre as a whole, then I strongly advise you to watch it, but if not ... well, I wouldn't 'steer clear', but be aware that it can, at points, feel a little too abstract. This is George Lucas playing with cinema as the artist within breaks free. There is nothing about this film that appeals to a broad-demographic, it is merely an exploration on a theme of control and escape - an experiment by Lucas building upon the short he created in THX 1138 4EB in 1967. We can only dream about how Lucas would've developed if he stuck to this type of filmmaking - or whether he may even go back to this type of film at all. At least now he has the money and the freedom to do whatever he wants,  like THX in the prison of freedom, it is a question about whether Lucas chooses to go back to

what he clearly loves to create.

*This post was originally published on 2nd June 2009 and, like Lucas and his changes to Star Wars, has been improved dramatically since that initial post.