Killer of Sheep 1978

      Stan works in drudgery at a slaughterhouse and is personal life is very drab.  Dissatisfaction and ennui keep him unresponsive to the needs of his adoring wife.  He struggles against influences which would dishonor and endanger him and his family.  He lives in Watts, This is an urban and mostly African-American section of Los Angeles.  His macabre profession seeps into his personal life as he struggles to keep his family afloat and content.  Other life situations also prove to be difficult, it seems that dark intentions lurk within the people he meets outside his family.  The multiple layers of stress cause Stan to question whether a better quality of life is possible?  Good, honest and hard-working people living in this neighborhood are trying to get by, keep up their hopes, love their children and get a little sleep.  There can be beauty in relentless ordinariness!!  There is poverty, unruly children and the hint of violence always waiting at the edge.  

     Even though Killer of Sheep has been all but unseen for years, it has not hurt its reputation.  It’s considered to be a landmark of both American independent and African American cinema.  This for a film made so close to the bone that Burnett served as writer, director, producer, editor and cameraman.  A film that is more episodic than plot driven and that offers a character-centered portrait of a community rarely seen on film to this day.  It's about people of color who are part of the working poor, living from check to check and trying to make ends meet and get ahead.  This is a tough movie and it stays in your mind!!  3* (This movie is OK)

80 min, Drama directed and written by Charles Burnett with Henry G. Sanders, Kaycee Moore, Charles Bracy, Angela Burnett, Eugene Cherry, Jack Drummond, Slim, Delores Farley, Dorothy Stengel, Tobar Mayo, Chris Terrill, Russell Miles, Home Jai, Johnny Smoke.

Note:  Imdb 7.3* out of 10* birth 6094 reviews, Rotten Tomatoes 98% with 80 critics 84% audience score with 2500+ ratings, Slant Magazine 4* Ed Gonzalez, Roger Ebert 4*, Metacritic 96 out of 10 with 23 critic reviews, Amazon 4.7* out of 5* with 63 reviews.

Special Note:  Charles Burnett made this film when he was still at UCLA and for a budget of just under $10,000.  The Library of Congress has declared "Killer of Sheep" as a national treasure and one of the first fifty on the National Film Registry.  The National Society of Film Critics selected it as one of the "100 Essential Films" of all time.  It was selected in 1990 for being culturally, historical or aesthetically significant.  Since the film was made without the proper legal permits and rights acquisition (due to the expense of the music rights) this film was never shown theatrically or made available on video.  It has only been seen on poor quality 16mm prints at a scant few museums and film festivals.  Thirty years after its premiere, the new 35mm print of Killer of Sheep was brilliantly restored by the UCLA Film & Television Archive.  In addition, all rights were secured for the music, allowing the film to be shown on the film festival circuit, in theaters and nationally broadcast by Turner Classic Movies.  The film is also now available on DVD.

Trivia:  Burnett encountered actor Henry G. Sanders in the elevator of the building where he worked.  He immediately asked him to do a screen test for the film because he thought he had an unusual face.  Completed in 1975 and not released until 1977.  Included among the "1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die" edited by Steven Schneider.  Included on Roger Ebert’s "Great Movies" list.