KILLER OF SHEEP / Charles Burnett (1977)

June 24th, 2007 by Scott Marks

KILLER OF SHEEP (1977)

Killer of Sheep (1977)

Written & Directed by: Charles Burnett

Cast: Henry Gayle Sanders, Kaycee Moore, Charles Bracy & Jack Drummond

Aspect Ratio: 1.33 : 1

Genres: Drama

Running Time: 80 min.

Rating:

Hollywood wasn’t accessible to black independent filmmakers, or films by people of color, unless they were black exploitation films. You never expected anything from Hollywood. Filmmaking was for you making personal and political statements. – Charles Burnett

Shot over the course of 52 weekends with non-professional actors and at a cost of $10,000, Killer of Sheep was unlike anything movie audiences had seen at the time of its release.

That is, providing they had a chance to see it.

Killer of Sheep opened just as the hard-R rated blaxploitation craze had all but run its course. Most of these revenge-filled potboilers were produced and directed by The Man and their formulas were simple: whitey oppresses for 3 reels, followed by 2 reels of non-stop violent reprisal at the hands of brothers Truck Turner and Drum or sisters Coffy and Cleopatra Jones.

Fred Williamson, Pam Grier and Jim Brown were out and role models Mohamed Ali (The Greatest), Richard Pryor (Greased Lightning) and just about every unemployed black comic (A Piece of the Action) were in. While no more cinematically competent than their action predecessors, at least the latter two pictures were directed by African Americans.

With urban theatrical arteries clogged with this type of product it’s no wonder that Killer of Sheep failed to crack the mainstream. It played a handful of festivals and college cinema societies before taking home the Critics’ Award at the Berlin International Film Festival in 1981 and falling into oblivion.

Ten years later it was entered into the Library of Congresses’ National Film Registry and in 2002, the National Society of Film Critics voted it one of the 100 essential films of all time. Thirty years after the fact and the film is finally ready for a theatrical release.

Killer of Sheep offers simple, calmly understated glimpses into Watts in the mid-70s through the eyes of slaughterhouse worker Stan (Henry Gayle Sanders). There’s little action per se or physical violence. Although two friends plotting a murder ask Stan to drive the getaway car, his life involves wholesale slaughter, not homicide.

A susceptible dreamer, the task of gutting sheep all day begins to deaden Stan to life’s realities. He harshly scolds his young son Stan, Jr. (Jack Drummond) for not coming to the aid his brother in a street fight. His daughter (Angela Burnett) spends most of her day hiding behind a sad-faced rubber dog mask.

Stan both loves and respects his wife (Kaycee Moore), something practically unheard of in black films from that era. Burnett understands this and makes sure to give the couple several shared moments of quiet dignity.

Contemporary audiences eager to be condescended to are likely to be bored silly by Killer of Sheep’s straightforward simplicity. In the press notes Burnett explains, “I have no interest to do cars banging into each other…most of the films I like to do aren’t very commercial. They’re not high concept. They’re hard to pitch to executives. They’re character-driven and theme-driven. I mean, I’m not trying to be sophisticated, but my movies are not designed for 18-year-olds.”

One thing Mr. Burnett borrowed from his Hollywood contemporaries is a wall-to-wall soundtrack comprised of preexisting songs. Instead of audio wallpaper, Mr. Burnett bolsters his visuals with an “aural history of African-American popular music.” The film originally ended with Dinah Washington’s Unforgettable playing over the final slaughterhouse sequence. Unable to secure the rights, Mr. Burnett opted to reprise Ms. Washington’s This Bitter Earth, which previously accompanied a tender dance scene between Stan and his wife. The substitution is an improvement. Unforgettable may have added a touch of irony, but using a song to connect a scene of intimacy with that of Stan’s hellacious working environment turned out to be a masterstroke.

The reason Killer of Sheep has been unavailable has nothing to do with the film’s quality. No shame or embarrassment, as is the case of Porgy & Bess which the Gershwin Estate has withheld for over 30 years. No one could afford the cash necessary to clear the soundtrack royalties.

After three decades in oblivion, Killer of Sheep is finally ready to find an audience. Kudos to the UCLA Film & Television Archive for a magnificent 35mm preservation job and distributor Milestone Films for allowing us a chance to rediscover this monumental masterpiece.