Killer of Sheep

Killer of Sheep is a 1978 American drama film edited, shot, written, produced, and directed by Charles Burnett. Shot primarily in 1972 and 1973, it was originally submitted by Burnett to the UCLA School of Film in 1977 as his Master of Fine Arts thesis. It features Henry G. Sanders, Kaycee Moore, and Charles Bracy, among others, in acting roles.

Why It Rocks

 * 1) It's simultaneously naturalistic, poetic, witty, and heartbreaking.
 * 2) The lead character Stan is very easy to follow and relatable too with his constant struggle to retain dignity in the face of grinding deprivation and disquieting temptations, and the alienation that threatens to break him away from his family just adds to all of his pain.
 * 3) Incredible acting from the entire cast, including Henry Gayle Sanders and Angela Burnett.
 * 4) It provides a sympathetic yet clear-eyed portrait of the African American community assaulted by poverty and lack of opportunity, yet it manages to remain partially hopeful. Focusing on everyday life in Black communities rarely featured in American cinema, the film combines lyrical storytelling with a starkly neorealist, documentary-style approach
 * 5) * With a particular sympathy for the children, Killer of Sheep is a plot-free, yet carefully drafted dramatic black and white film. It reflects the routine lives of a family combined with random and often absurd events. Blending the harsh reality of the ghetto in Black Los Angeles Watts in the mid-1970s with observant surrealism, the film unfolds as a series of interludes involving the family’s children, the parents, friends and strangers who pass through their lives.
 * 6) Incredible camerawork and cinematography.
 * 7) Powerful and meaningful soundtrack.
 * 8) The film may be non-narrative, without the usual acts, plot arcs or character development, but the subplots and overall message of the stories is pretty clear, and the story routes are incredibly unpredictable.
 * 9) * The most consistent plotline is the chronicle of a slaughterhouse employee's daily struggles and the emotional baggage he carries home.
 * 10) * In one of the film's most powerful scenes, Angela, wearing a grotesque rubber dog mask, stands silently while her father works on a house project with a friend. A silent observer in the room, the men seem to not notice her until her Stan Jr. comes in and, in a forceful way, demands that she take it off.  Surreal moments like this serve to underscore the absurdities of everyday life and the concurrent resilience of humanity in the face of the dehumanizing forces acting on poor communities.

Trivia

 * Killer of Sheep was made as writer/director Charles Burnett's thesis film for his MFA degree at UCLA. With a goal to create cinema reflective of communities of color, Burnett was among a group of Black filmmakers from the university's film program that came to be known as the LA Rebellion movement which also included esteemed directors Julie Dash and Billy Woodberry.
 * Produced for a budget of less than $10k and populated with a cast of non-professional actors mostly made up of director Charles Burnett's friends and acquaintances, Killer of Sheep was shot on location near his family home in Watts, CA.
 * In 1990, Killer of Sheep was included in the second-ever group of films to be inducted into the Library of Congress' National Film Registry. Articulating its significance, the Library of Congress remarked that Burnett's film "is simultaneously naturalistic and poetic, witty and heartbreaking. (...) It also provides a sympathetic yet clear-eyed portrait of a community assaulted by poverty and lack of opportunity, yet it manages to remain hopeful."