Dope Sick Love
Dope Sick Love is a really remarkable documentary made for HBO about two pairs of heroin addicted lovers roaming the streets of NYC. There is no narration and we never see any interviews with the subjects, the camera just follows them around, like a third eye, completely detached.
The people being followed don’t even seem aware that they’re being filmed! (or, at least, they don’t seem to care). The footage is amazingly candid. This is as real as it gets. The nuts and bolts of what its like to be on the street and addicted to heroin. We watch them score dope, shoot it, make up, hustle, and even impersonate cops to rob people, and about a million other tiny details that less observant documentary filmmakers would leave out.
Some of the footage is truly horrifying. Like watching one guy frantically searching for the fix he lost. And when he does find it, the guy literally dances in the street.
The cyclical nature of drug addiction becomes very apparent while watching this. EVERYTHING is about getting the next score to these folks, yet the next score seems to be well worth the immense trouble they go through.
Watch the full documentary now (playlist)
February 2nd, 2010 at 20:05
It has Danish subtitles.
February 2nd, 2010 at 22:30
What an AWESOME concept, thanx, gonna watch this right now!
February 3rd, 2010 at 01:09
Same the world over pretty much.
February 3rd, 2010 at 02:10
This made me feel like I was right there with them. I can truly appreciate these kind of documentaries.
February 3rd, 2010 at 05:55
At the risk of sounding utterly selfish, I think docs like this are great to watch on what one may think was a “bad day”. Very well done. I love my bed.
February 4th, 2010 at 00:26
How sad and pathetic. That human beings can be reduced to such a level. Some scenes made me think ‘these people are wasting good oxygen on this planet’. But I suppose the drugs make them
unable to make any sort of ‘decent human value judgments’. All in all this documentary was enlightening in that it requires you to think more deeply about the entire way the drug problem is handled. There has to be a better way.
February 4th, 2010 at 02:07
Remember when you were a kid and the world just didn’t seem like it could get so bad?
February 6th, 2010 at 06:40
Haven’t seen a raw one in awhile. My favorite. Thanks Vlatko.
February 15th, 2010 at 12:17
human waste…
February 17th, 2010 at 23:21
I wouldn’t even disparage the people in this doc. They get enough of “your a waste” already, but it was really insightful into what world their living in compared to my comfortable lifestyle. The doc. definitely shined a light on a lot of issues incurred on these guys, that they were joint at the hip as couples, and the false optimism which was prevalent in their attitude to kick the drug habit. Yes, it was harrowing, but shows the potency of the drug as well and all the other factors rolled in one that lead to such depravity.