A week ago I was sitting in Cosi's with my friend Stacey, and among various topics, we began discussing great movies--especially those buried treasures, lost gems of cinematic greatness. This coming after a long discussion on why there are no good movies to see anymore. And by "good" we mean movies with actual plot lines, complex characters, and compelling storytelling that pulls you in and leaves your mind lingering long after the credits have rolled. Yeah, good stuff like that. So in the midst of this conversation I mention one of my all-time favorite lost treasures: "Killer of Sheep." Perhaps the most criminally forgotten movie ever made (an overstatement, I know, there may be more--but how would I know?).
The 1977 classic black & white film is essentially about a working class African American family in Watts, CA shot in the Italian neo-realist style. There is nothing quite like it. There is no definitive narrative structure-- basically, it's a movie that lives for its small moments. Each scene could be paused into a photograph. Each vignette feels like a short, sad poem. Writer/Director Charles Burnett's enormous genius spills all over this moving portrait of lives frustrated, broken down, and aching for some glimmer of hope. It's filled with tender vignettes of working class African Americans whose daily survival seems so painfully moment to moment. We center ourselves around the world of Stan, a working class husband and father, who works at slaughterhouse, which leaves him detached and spiritually bruised. He can't connect with his wife, his children, or friends...nothing.
This deeply moving masterpiece isn't for an audience in need of big thrills, booming action, and lots of clever, overwritten dialogue. It's a work that requires careful viewing and a general love for anti-structural storytelling. Burnett made this film while a student at UCLA which still boggles the mind! Because of music rights issues the film went unreleased and basically hidden away in the National Film Registry of the Library of Congress. It was finally re-released two years ago. When I went to the IFC theater to see the movie one afternoon I had no idea what I was in for. Let's just say I was mesmerized. As a screenwriter, I was astounded by the visual language of the film and the way Burnett utilized the extraordinary images with a stunning soundtrack which includes Dinah Washington, Earth Wind & Fire, Paul Robeson, and more.
It is not often that I watch this film. Some of my favorite movies I seem to rarely watch over and over. They sort of live in me as cheesy it sounds. But later that day after leaving Cosi's, I returned home to watch this film, again, feeling as though it was the first time I'd seen it. Still dazzled by it's haunting lyricism and moodiness. For me, there's just something so moving about a film that so perfectly captures the heartbreaking daily struggles of people trapped in lives they never asked for--yet survive anyway, simply, because they have to.
For more info, check the official website:
www.killerofsheep.com
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