Killer of Sheep

Last updated

Killer of Sheep
Killer of sheep.jpg
2007 re-release theatrical poster
Directed by Charles Burnett
Written byCharles Burnett
Produced byCharles Burnett
Starring Henry G. Sanders
Kaycee Moore
Charles Bracy
Angela Burnett
CinematographyCharles Burnett
Edited byCharles Burnett
Distributed by Third World Newsreel [1]
Release dates
  • November 14, 1978 (1978-11-14)(Whitney)
  • March 30, 2007 (2007-03-30)(United States)
Running time
80 minutes [2]
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$10,000
Box office$416,509 [3]

Killer of Sheep is a 1978 American drama film edited, filmed, 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.

Contents

The film depicts the culture of urban African-Americans in Los Angeles' Watts district in a style often likened to Italian neorealism. Critic Dana Stevens described its plot as "a collection of brief vignettes which are so loosely connected that it feels at times like you're watching a non-narrative film." [4] There are no acts, plot arcs or character development, as conventionally defined.

Killer of Sheep premiered at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York on November 14, 1978. [5] It did not receive a general release because Burnett had not secured rights to the music used in its production. The music rights were purchased in 2007 for US $150,000 and the film was restored and transferred from a 16 mm to a 35 mm print. Killer of Sheep received a limited release 30 years after it was completed, with a DVD release in late 2007. The film was restored by the UCLA preservationist Ross Lipman and produced on DVD by Steven Soderbergh and Milestone Films. [6] In 1990, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". [6] [7] [8]

Plot

Stan works long hours at a slaughterhouse in Watts, Los Angeles. The monotonous slaughter affects his home life with his unnamed wife and his two children, Stan Jr. and Angela. Through a series of confusing episodic events—some friends try to involve Stan in a criminal plot, a white woman propositions Stan to work in her store, and Stan and his friend Bracy attempt to buy a car engine—a mosaic of an austere working-class life emerges in which Stan feels unable to affect the course of his life.

Cast

Production

Burnett used grant money from the UCLA School of Film to help finance the film, but delayed production because his first choice of actor was in prison and he wanted to wait until he was paroled. Meanwhile, he made the short film The Horse. When the university insisted he make his thesis film with or without his first-choice actor, Burnett cast Henry Sanders. [9]

Directed by Charles Burnett, Killer of Sheep was shot in Watts on a budget of less than US$10,000 ($38,000 in 2016 dollars) over roughly a year's worth of weekends in 1972 and 1973, with additional shooting in 1975. In 1977, Burnett submitted the film as his Master of Fine Arts thesis at the School of Film at the University of California, Los Angeles. Burnett said he also intended to make the film a history of African-American music and filled it with music from a variety of genres and different eras. [10] Burnett also kept a stable job while Killer of Sheep was being shot, spending his time working at an agency reading scripts and synopsis. [11]

Roof jumping scene

One scene contains a low-angle shot of children leaping from rooftop to rooftop. [12] Juliet Clark, a journalist writing for the Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive, said the scene shows how children in the film "seem to achieve a mobility that eludes their elders". [13]

In 2009, a still from the scene, showing one of the boys mid-jump, was reproduced in red tint and used as the cover of rapper Mos Def's album The Ecstatic . According to Complex magazine's Dale Eisinger, the "subtle and still-moving" cover has a "hazy, dream-like movement, appearing as a non-narrative, loose collection of vignettes that are tangentially fascinating and incredibly powerful", while reflecting the ideas of cultural justice and global inequality present throughout Mos Def's work. [14]

Critical reception

Though the film won the Critics' Award at the Berlin International Film Festival and was acclaimed at the Toronto International Film Festival, it never saw wide release due to complications in securing the music rights for the 22 songs on the soundtrack, which included such big names as Dinah Washington, Paul Robeson, Louis Armstrong, and Earth, Wind and Fire. It remained in obscurity for nearly 30 years, garnering much critical and academic praise and earning a reputation as a lost classic. The film did not win an award until four years after it came out, after having to wait four years to be released. [11]

Killer of Sheep holds a 97% "fresh" rating on Rotten Tomatoes; the consensus states: "By turns funny, sad, and profound, Killer of Sheep offers a sympathetic and humane glimpse into inner-city life." [15] Critics and scholars have likened the film to the work of Italian neorealist directors, particularly Vittorio De Sica and Roberto Rossellini, for its documentary aesthetic and use of mostly non-professional, on-location actors. Burnett has also been compared to Yasujirō Ozu for his strong sense of composition, Stanley Kubrick for his sharp ear for juxtaposing popular music with images, John Cassavetes for his knack for coaxing natural performances from amateur actors, and Robert Altman for his interest in the minutiae of human interaction. Burnett's self-professed influences are Jean Renoir, Basil Wright, and Federico Fellini, all of whom exemplify the tender, humane and compassionate qualities for which Burnett has been praised, qualities intensely present in Killer of Sheep. Critic Andrew O'Hehir, noting the strong influences of Jean Renoir, Roberto Rossellini, [16] and Satyajit Ray, said, "It's hard to overemphasize how strange and ambitious and completely out of context it was for a black urban filmmaker with no money and no reputation to make that kind of movie in 1977." [17]

In 1990, the Library of Congress selected it for preservation in the United States National Film Registry for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant." [17]

In 2008, Empire magazine ranked the film No. 398 of The 500 Greatest Movies of All Time. [18]

The National Society of Film Critics chose Killer of Sheep as one of its 100 Essential Films.

In 2015, the BBC named the film the 26th greatest American movie ever made. [19]

Lists

The film appeared on several critics' top ten lists of the best films released in 2007. [20]

Distribution

Having previously only existed on worn 16mm prints, the film was restored and enlarged to 35mm by the UCLA Film and Television Archive and Milestone Films, thanks in part to a donation from filmmaker Steven Soderbergh. The soundtrack, which had not been licensed, was also paid for at a cost of over US$150 000.

On March 30, 2007, it opened in select theaters in the United States and Canada and on November 13, 2007, it was released on DVD as part of a deluxe box set with a director's cut of Burnett's sophomore feature My Brother's Wedding and three Burnett shorts: Several Friends (a 1969 aesthetic precursor to Killer of Sheep), The Horse (an "allegory of the South", in Burnett's words), and When It Rains (praised as one of the greatest short films of all time by critic Jonathan Rosenbaum).

On Martin Luther King Jr. Day, January 21, 2008, Turner Classic Movies presented the world broadcast premiere of the film as part of a night-long marathon of Burnett's work. Burnett was interviewed before and after the film by TCM's primetime host Robert Osborne.

See also

Related Research Articles

<i>The Apartment</i> 1960 film by Billy Wilder

The Apartment is a 1960 American romantic comedy-drama film directed and produced by Billy Wilder from a screenplay he co-wrote with I. A. L. Diamond. It stars Jack Lemmon, Shirley MacLaine, Fred MacMurray, Ray Walston, Jack Kruschen, David Lewis, Willard Waterman, David White, Hope Holiday and Edie Adams.

<i>Bonnie and Clyde</i> (film) 1967 film by Arthur Penn

Bonnie and Clyde is a 1967 American biographical neo-noir crime film directed by Arthur Penn and starring Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway as the title characters Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Parker. The film also features Michael J. Pollard, Gene Hackman, and Estelle Parsons. The screenplay is by David Newman and Robert Benton. Robert Towne and Beatty provided uncredited contributions to the script; Beatty produced the film. The music is by Charles Strouse.

<i>Force of Evil</i> 1948 film by Abraham Polonsky

Force of Evil is a 1948 American film noir starring John Garfield and Beatrice Pearson and directed by Abraham Polonsky. It was adapted by Polonsky and Ira Wolfert from Wolfert's novel Tucker's People. Polonsky had been a screenwriter for the boxing film Body and Soul (1947), in which Garfield had also played the male lead.

<i>The Gold Rush</i> 1925 Charles Chaplin film

The Gold Rush is a 1925 American silent comedy film written, produced, and directed by Charlie Chaplin. The film also stars Chaplin in his Little Tramp persona, Georgia Hale, Mack Swain, Tom Murray, Henry Bergman and Malcolm Waite.

<i>The Lady Eve</i> 1941 film by Preston Sturges

The Lady Eve is a 1941 American screwball comedy film written and directed by Preston Sturges and starring Barbara Stanwyck and Henry Fonda. The film is based on a story by Monckton Hoffe about a mismatched couple who meet on board an ocean liner. Regarded amongst the greatest films of all time, The Lady Eve was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry in 1994 by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically or aesthetically significant".

<i>Sons of the Desert</i> 1933 film by William A. Seiter

Sons of the Desert is a 1933 American pre-Code comedy film starring Laurel and Hardy. Directed by William A. Seiter, it was released in the United States on December 29, 1933. In the United Kingdom, the film was originally released under the title Fraternally Yours.

<i>Sex, Lies, and Videotape</i> 1989 film by Steven Soderbergh

Sex, Lies, and Videotape is a 1989 American independent drama film written and directed by Steven Soderbergh. The plot tells the story of a troubled man who videotapes women discussing their sexuality and fantasies, and its impact on the relationships of a troubled married couple and the wife's younger sister.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charles Burnett (director)</span> American film director

Charles Burnett is an American film director, film producer, writer, editor, actor, photographer, and cinematographer. His most popular films include Killer of Sheep (1978), My Brother's Wedding (1983), To Sleep with Anger (1990), The Glass Shield (1994), and Namibia: The Struggle for Liberation (2007). He has been involved in other types of motion pictures including shorts, documentaries, and a TV series.

<i>Daughters of the Dust</i> 1991 film by Julie Dash

Daughters of the Dust is a 1991 independent film written, directed and produced by Julie Dash and is the first feature film directed by an African-American woman to be theatrically released in the United States. Set in 1902, it tells the story of three generations of Gullah women in the Peazant family on Saint Helena Island as they prepare to migrate off the island, out of the Southern United States, and into the North.

<i>Oceans Eleven</i> 2001 film by Steven Soderbergh

Ocean's Eleven is a 2001 American heist comedy film directed by Steven Soderbergh from a screenplay by Ted Griffin. The first installment in the Ocean's film trilogy, it is a remake of the 1960 Rat Pack film of the same name. The film features an ensemble cast including George Clooney, Matt Damon, Andy García, Brad Pitt, Julia Roberts, Casey Affleck, Scott Caan, Elliott Gould, Bernie Mac, and Carl Reiner. The story follows friends Danny Ocean (Clooney) and Rusty Ryan (Pitt), who plan a heist of $160 million from casino owner Terry Benedict (García), the lover of Ocean's ex-wife Tess (Roberts).

<i>The Strong Man</i> 1926 film by Frank Capra

The Strong Man is a 1926 American silent comedy film starring Harry Langdon, who produced the film. It was directed by Frank Capra in his feature debut.

<i>To Sleep with Anger</i> 1990 film by Charles Burnett

To Sleep with Anger is a 1990 American black comedy film written and directed by Charles Burnett, and starring Danny Glover.

<i>Journey to Italy</i> 1954 film

Journey to Italy, also known as Voyage to Italy, is a 1954 drama film directed by Roberto Rossellini. Ingrid Bergman and George Sanders play Katherine and Alex Joyce, a childless English married couple on a trip to Italy whose marriage is on the point of collapse until they are miraculously reconciled. The film was written by Rossellini and Vitaliano Brancati, but is loosely based on the 1934 novel Duo by Colette. Although the film was an Italian production, its dialogue was in English. The first theatrical release was in Italy under the title Viaggio in Italia; the dialogue had been dubbed into Italian.

<i>A Time Out of War</i> 1954 film

A Time Out of War is a 1954 American short war film directed by Denis Sanders and starring Corey Allen and Barry Atwater. In 1955, it won an Academy Award for Best Short Subject (Two-Reel) at the 27th Academy Awards, first prize at the Venice Film Festival Live Action Short Film category, and a BAFTA Special Award, among others.

Bush Mama is an American film made by Ethiopian-American director Haile Gerima, part of the L.A. Rebellion movement of political and experimental black cinema in the 1970s. It was released in 1979 though made earlier, in 1975.

The L.A. Rebellion film movement, sometimes referred to as the "Los Angeles School of Black Filmmakers", or the UCLA Rebellion, refers to the new generation of young African and African-American filmmakers who studied at the UCLA Film School in the late-1960s to the late-1980s and have created a black cinema that provides an alternative to classical Hollywood cinema.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Billy Woodberry</span> American film director

Billy Woodberry is one of the leading directors of the L.A. Rebellion. He is best known for directing the 1984 feature film, Bless Their Little Hearts (1984), which was honored at the Berlin International Film Festival.

<i>Bless Their Little Hearts</i> 1984 film

Bless Their Little Hearts is a 1984 American drama film produced and directed by Billy Woodberry, starring Nate Hardman and Kaycee Moore. It was shot and written by Charles Burnett. The film had a limited theatrical release: it played for a week at the Royal in West Los Angeles and also at the Film Forum in New York.

Kaycee Moore was an American actress. Born and raised in Kansas City, Missouri, she was a member of the L.A. Rebellion, an alternative artistic movement developed at UCLA by Black filmmakers including Charles Burnett and Julie Dash.

Passing Through is a 1977 American film directed by Larry Clark and co-written by Clark and Ted Lange.

References

  1. ↑ "Distributor FAQ: Third World Newsreel". Independent Magazine. October 1, 1998. Retrieved April 22, 2021.
  2. ↑ "KILLER OF SHEEP (12A)". British Film Institute . British Board of Film Classification. September 10, 2007. Retrieved February 11, 2014.
  3. ↑ Killer of Sheep at Box Office Mojo Retrieved February 11, 2014
  4. ↑ "Black Sheep: A legendary film from 1977 gets its due." by Dana Stevens, Slate.com, March 30, 2007
  5. ↑ Maslin, Janet (November 14, 1978). "Screen: 'Killer of Sheep' Is Shown at the Whitney:Nonprofessional Cast". The New York Times . Retrieved September 1, 2018.
  6. 1 2 Naremore, James (2017). "Charles Burnett: A Cinema of Symbolic Knowledge". Cinéaste. 42 (3): 20–23. ISSN   0009-7004. JSTOR   26356944.
  7. ↑ "Complete National Film Registry Listing". Library of Congress. Retrieved November 18, 2020.
  8. ↑ Gamarekian, Barbara; Times, Special To the New York (October 19, 1990). "Library of Congress Adds 25 Titles to National Film Registry (Published 1990)". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved November 18, 2020.
  9. ↑ Kapsis, Robert E. (February 25, 2011). Charles Burnett: Interviews. Univ. Press of Mississippi. ISBN   978-1-60473-950-3.
  10. ↑ 'Killer of Sheep' by Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times , April 6, 2007
  11. 1 2 "Gale - Product Login". galeapps.gale.com. Retrieved November 16, 2019.
  12. ↑ Grundmann, Roy; Lucia, Cynthia; Simon, Art, eds. (2015). "Killer of Sheep: Redeeming the Everyday". American Film History: Selected Readings, 1960 to the Present. John Wiley & Sons. ISBN   9781118475003.
  13. ↑ "Killer of Sheep". BAMPFA . September 20, 2016. Retrieved May 2, 2019.
  14. ↑ Eisinger, Dale (2013). "The Ecstatic – The 50 Best Rap Album Covers of the Past Five Years". Complex . Archived from the original on June 19, 2016. Retrieved June 6, 2016.
  15. ↑ Killer of Sheep at Rotten Tomatoes Retrieved February 11, 2014
  16. ↑ "Killer of Sheep - A Film by Charles Burnett - About the Film". www.killerofsheep.com. Retrieved November 16, 2019.
  17. 1 2 "Killer of Sheep" by Andrew O'Hehir, Salon.com, March 30, 2007
  18. ↑ Empire's The 500 Greatest Movies of All Time. Empire via Internet Archive. Retrieved August 5, 2010.
  19. ↑ "The 100 Greatest American Films", bbc.com, July 20, 2015
  20. ↑ "Metacritic: 2007 Film Critic Top Ten Lists". Metacritic . Archived from the original on January 2, 2008.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.