Killer of Sheep

One of the most renowned films in cinema, Charles Burnett's Killer of Sheep has been magnificently restored to 4K with sparkling picture and sound. Evoking the everyday trials, fragile pleasures, and tenacious humor of blue-collar African Americans in 1970s Watts, Burnett made the film on a minuscule budget with a mostly nonprofessional cast, combining keen on-the-street observation with a carefully crafted script.

The episodic plot centers on the character of Stan (Henry Gayle Sanders), a slaughterhouse worker mired in exhaustion, disconnected from his wife, his children, and himself. Stan and his neighbors struggle just to get by, let alone get ahead; as befits an L.A. movie, vehicular metaphors of breakdown abound. Only the kids, leaping from roof to roof, seem to achieve a mobility that eludes their elders.

Burnett’s film focuses on everyday life in black communities in a manner rarely seen in American cinema — combining lyrical elements with a starkly neorealist, documentary-style approach that chronicles the unfolding story with depth and riveting simplicity.

Burnett once said of the film, “[Stan’s] real problems lie within the family, trying to make that work and be a human being. You don’t necessarily win battles; you survive.”“One of the great achievements in cinema, period.” — Jeffrey Anderson, Combustible Celluloid

“A flat-out treasure, impervious to time.” — Jay Carr, Boston Globe

“A miracle of human decency and exalted artistry… Burnett possesses what may be the rarest quality in American film — tenderness.” — John Powers, Best of L.A. 2003

“Killer of Sheep is a lyrical portrait of a community on the margins. The film doesn’t ask us to feel sorry for its characters, to pity them, but it does demand that we afford them dignity and respect. This demand comes as a whisper not a shout.… Groundbreaking!” — filmmaker Sean Baker

“Funny and sad, tough and tender… Killer of Sheep brims with humor and compassion and hope…See Killer of Sheep — then see it again, and again. It's one of those truly rare movies that just get better.” — Ann Hornaday, Washington Post

“Killer of Sheep is as timeless as the human condition.” — Jeff Shannon, Seattle Times

“One of those marvels of original movie making that keeps hope of artistic independence alive.…a vivid, angry, compassionately real picture of mid-’70s African-American life.…Here’s to the miracle of a buried classic granted the opposite of a killing — here’s to life.”
— Lisa Schwarzbaum, Entertainment Weekly