Sunday, August 13, 2017
Two old movies on addiction
Thinking more about the recent posts here on the opioid problem. Some of the comments to those posts brought up the way we feel about addiction and addicts. My own feeling about addiction is that it is not a moral failure but instead a tragedy, an illness, and one that could happen to any of us given the right circumstances (Surgeon General Vivek Murthy: Addiction Is A Chronic Brain Disease, Not A Moral Failing).
I haven't personally known a seriously addicted person unless you count my mother's addiction to cigarettes, so what probably helped to form my belief about addiction was the movies. There are a lot of movies on this subject, but I particularly remember two terribly sad films from when I was young: Days of Wine and Roses and The Panic in Needle Park. Perhaps it's not just written fiction which can teach us empathy.
1) Days of Wine and Roses ...
is a 1962 drama film directed by Blake Edwards with a screenplay by JP Miller adapted from his own 1958 Playhouse 90 teleplay of the same name. The movie was produced by Martin Manulis, with music by Henry Mancini, and features Jack Lemmon, Lee Remick, Charles Bickford and Jack Klugman. The film depicts the downward spiral of two average Americans who succumb to alcoholism and attempt to deal with their problems.
I saw this on tv as a kid. Here's a trailer which also has Jack Lemmon speaking to us about the film. Ironic that as he's doing that, he's smoking ...
2) The Panic In Needle Park ...
is a 1971 American romantic drama film directed by Jerry Schatzberg and starring Al Pacino, in his second film appearance. The screenplay was written by Joan Didion and John Gregory Dunne, adapted from the 1966 novel by James Mills. The film portrays life among a group of heroin addicts who hang out in "Needle Park" (then-nickname for Sherman Square on Manhattan's Upper West Side near 72nd Street and Broadway). The film is a love story between Bobby (Pacino), a young addict and small-time hustler, and Helen (Kitty Winn), a restless woman who finds Bobby charismatic. She becomes an addict, and life goes downhill for them both as their addictions worsen, eventually leading to a series of betrayals.
I saw this at the theater as a teen. Here's a trailer ...
Film critic Roger Ebert gave this movie 3.5 stars in his review of it.
BTW, Ebert understood addiction from the inside - My Name is Roger, and I'm an alcoholic
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If anyone is looking for a broader and more nuanced view of alcoholism/addiction, I suggest:
ReplyDelete"August: Osage County." It's my brother's favorite movie. I could barely make it through, but it captures holiday chaos perfectly, and is about the blackest comedy I have ever seen. Playwright Sam Shepherd drew on his experiences with his alcoholic father.
"Rachel Getting Married" captures the narcissism that often goes with addiction. Anne Hathaway is excellent.
And if you want the full immersion addiction experience, go for "Nurse Jackie." No answers why, but excellent job delineating the addictive personality--denial, deception, deviousness--without demonizing.
I haven't seen any of those but I think my sister has told me of Nurse Jackie. When I was young I was much more eclectic with movies but now I mostly stick to science fiction. The last one I saw was "Kong: Skull Island", with Tom Hiddleston .... lots of people eaten by monsters :)
ReplyDeleteI would say "August:Osage County" is pretty close to science fiction, or maybe horror.
DeleteThese are all very recent, and I appreciate that they look at the fallout of addiction and offer realistic, well-rounded portaits of the addicts themselves.
"Nurse Jackie" takes place in a Catholic hospital, and faith figures into the story line several times. To me that underscores the moral choices Jackie is faced with and how her addiction colors her response. Edie Falco had her own real life struggles with alcohol abuse, and she is excellent.
Viewers are left with a sense of the magnitude of addiction's devastation and a deep sense that there are no cheap and easy fixes for it.
Roger Ebert's piece is charming and evocative, as Roger Ebert always was. But he skates over any effect his alcoholism might have had on family and friends. He has a right to keep this private, of course. But these AA confessionals are often like convert stories, following the "I once was lost, but now am found" triumphal formula. That gives the addict a chance to be the hero of his own story.
I'm happy when addicts choose sobriety, of course. But their getting it together doesn't bind up the wounds they've created in others.
I used to be really angry with my mother for smoking. To me it seemed inevitable that she would get sick and drag us all along with her. I once asked her if she would stop smoking for the sake of me and my sister and she just laughed at me. I'm still mad at her, I guess. But she suffered a lot when she got lung cancer and from what I've read about smoking, it's one of the hardest addictions to give up. The people I really hate are the ones who create the stuff people become addicted to.
ReplyDeleteReally? You hate people who make booze, painkillers, and anti-anxiety meds? A new era of Prohibition? That worked so well the first time...
ReplyDeleteCigs are a scourge, but they do not cause someone's personality to change, to descend into chaos, or be unable to function in the same way booze and drugs do until it kills them.
There are no movies I know of about the tragedies of a life of cigarette addiction.
I do hate the tobacco industry. And people with lung cancer is a tragedy. If you need a tobacco movie, try The Insider
ReplyDelete