Editing Killer of Sheep

{{Use American English|date=January 2025}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=February 2014}}
{{Infobox film
| name           = Killer of Sheep
| image          = Killer of sheep.jpg
| alt            = 
| caption        = 2007 re-release theatrical poster
| director       = [[Charles Burnett (director)|Charles Burnett]]
| producer       = Charles Burnett
| writer         = Charles Burnett
| starring       = [[Henry G. Sanders]]<br />[[Kaycee Moore]]<br />Charles Bracy<br />Angela Burnett
| cinematography = Charles Burnett
| editing        = Charles Burnett
| distributor    = [[Third World Newsreel]]<ref>{{Cite web| title = Distributor FAQ: Third World Newsreel| work = Independent Magazine| accessdate = 2021-04-22| date = 1998-10-01| url = https://independent-magazine.org/1998/10/01/distributor-faq-third-world-newsreel/}}</ref> then Milestone Film & Video
| runtime        = 80 minutes<!--Theatrical runtime: 80:16--><ref>{{cite web|title=''KILLER OF SHEEP'' (12A)|url=http://www.bbfc.co.uk/releases/killer-sheep-2008-1|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140222011905/http://www.bbfc.co.uk/releases/killer-sheep-2008-1|url-status=dead|archive-date=February 22, 2014|work=[[British Film Institute]]|publisher=[[British Board of Film Classification]]|date=September 10, 2007|access-date=February 11, 2014}}</ref>
| country        = United States
| released       = {{Film date|1978|11|14|[[Whitney Museum of American Art|Whitney]]|2007|3|30|United States}}
| language       = English
| budget         = $10,000
| gross          = $416,509<ref>{{mojo title|killerofsheep|Killer of Sheep}} Retrieved February 11, 2014</ref>
}}
'''''Killer of Sheep''''' is a 1978 American [[Drama (film and television)|drama film]] edited, filmed, written, produced, and directed by [[Charles Burnett (director)|Charles Burnett]]. Shot primarily in 1972 and 1973, it was originally submitted by Burnett to the [[UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television|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.

The film depicts the culture of urban African-Americans in Los Angeles' [[Watts, Los Angeles, California|Watts]] district in a style often likened to [[Italian neorealism]]. Critic [[Dana Stevens (critic)|Dana Stevens]] described its plot as "a collection of brief [[Vignette (literature)|vignette]]s which are so loosely connected that it feels at times like you're watching a non-narrative film."<ref name=Slate>[http://www.slate.com/id/2162982?nav=tap3 "Black Sheep: A legendary film from 1977 gets its due."] by Dana Stevens, [[Slate.com]], March 30, 2007</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite news|last=Maslin|first=Janet|author-link=Janet Maslin|date=November 14, 1978|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1978/11/14/archives/screen-killer-of-sheep-is-shown-at-the-whitneynonprofessional-cast.html|title=Screen: 'Killer of Sheep' Is Shown at the Whitney:Nonprofessional Cast|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|access-date=September 1, 2018}}</ref> It did not receive a general release because Burnett had not secured rights to the music used in its production. The music rights were licensed in 2007 (and again in 2024) by Milestone Film & Video for [[United States dollar|US $]]150,000 after the film was restored by UCLA and transferred from a [[16 mm]] to a [[35 mm movie film|35 mm]] print. ''Killer of Sheep'' received a 200+ city release 30 years after it was first premiered, with a [[DVD]] release in late 2007. The film was restored by the UCLA preservationist [[Ross Lipman]], presented on DVD by [[Steven Soderbergh]] and distributed by [[Milestone Films]].<ref name="Naremore 2017 20–23">{{Cite journal|last=Naremore|first=James|date=2017|title=Charles Burnett: A Cinema of Symbolic Knowledge|journal=Cinéaste|volume=42|issue=3|pages=20–23|issn=0009-7004|jstor=26356944}}</ref> 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".<ref name="Naremore 2017 20–23"/><ref>{{Cite web|title=Complete National Film Registry Listing |url=https://www.loc.gov/programs/national-film-preservation-board/film-registry/complete-national-film-registry-listing/|access-date=2020-11-18|website=Library of Congress}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|last1=Gamarekian|first1=Barbara|last2=Times|first2=Special To the New York|date=1990-10-19|title=Library of Congress Adds 25 Titles to National Film Registry (Published 1990)|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1990/10/19/movies/library-of-congress-adds-25-titles-to-national-film-registry.html|access-date=2020-11-18|issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

==Plot==
Stan works long hours at a slaughterhouse in [[Watts, Los Angeles, California|Watts]], [[Los Angeles]]. The monotonous nature of his work begins to affect his home life with his unnamed wife and their two children, Stan Jr. and Angela. Through a series of episodic events—such as acquaintances attempting to involve Stan in a criminal scheme, a white woman propositioning him to work at her store, and Stan and his friend Bracy trying to purchase a car engine—a mosaic of a harsh working-class life emerges. Within this life, Stan feels powerless to change the course of his circumstances.

==Cast==
*[[Henry G. Sanders]] as Stan
*[[Kaycee Moore]] as Stan's wife
*Charles Bracy as Bracy
*Angela Burnett as Stan's daughter
*Eugene Cherry as Eugene
*Jack Drummond as Stan's son

==Production==
Burnett used grant money from [[UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television|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.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Kapsis |first=Robert E. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TOG1EhsX-jEC |title=Charles Burnett: Interviews |date=2011-02-25 |publisher=Univ. Press of Mississippi |isbn=978-1-60473-950-3 |language=en}}</ref>

''Killer of Sheep'' was shot in Watts on a budget of less than [[United States dollar|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 [[UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television|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.<ref name=LATimes>[http://www.calendarlive.com/printedition/calendar/cl-et-killer6apr06,0,4941969.story 'Killer of Sheep'] by [[Kenneth Turan]], ''[[Los Angeles Times]]'', April 6, 2007</ref> Burnett also kept a stable job while ''Killer of Sheep'' was being shot, spending his time working at an agency reading scripts and synopses.<ref name="Gale - Product Login">{{Cite web|url=https://galeapps.gale.com/apps/auth?userGroupName=nysl_se_bardcsl&origURL=https%3A%2F%2Fgo.gale.com%2Fps%2Fretrieve.do%3FtabID%3DT002%26resultListType%3DRESULT_LIST%26searchResultsType%3DSingleTab%26searchType%3DBasicSearchForm%26currentPosition%3D2%26docId%3DGALE%257CA16139060%26docType%3DInterview%26sort%3DRelevance%26contentSegment%3DZONE-MOD1%26prodId%3DAONE%26contentSet%3DGALE%257CA16139060%26searchId%3DR2%26userGroupName%3Dnysl_se_bardcsl%26inPS%3Dtrue&prodId=AONE|title=Gale - Product Login|website=galeapps.gale.com|access-date=2019-11-16}}</ref>

== Roof jumping scene ==
One scene contains a low-angle shot of children leaping from rooftop to rooftop.<ref>{{cite book|chapter=Killer of Sheep: Redeeming the Everyday|title=American Film History: Selected Readings, 1960 to the Present|year=2015|publisher=John Wiley & Sons |editor1-last=Grundmann|editor1-first=Roy|editor2-last=Lucia|editor2-first=Cynthia|editor3-last=Simon|editor3-first=Art|isbn=9781118475003}}</ref> 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".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://bampfa.org/event/killer-sheep-11|title=Killer of Sheep|website=[[BAMPFA]]|date=September 20, 2016 |access-date=May 2, 2019}}</ref>

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)|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.<ref>{{cite web|last=Eisinger |first=Dale |year=2013 |url=http://www.complex.com/style/2013/09/best-rap-album-covers/the-ecstatic |title=The Ecstatic – The 50 Best Rap Album Covers of the Past Five Years |work=[[Complex (magazine)|Complex]] |access-date=June 6, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160619203906/http://www.complex.com/style/2013/09/best-rap-album-covers/the-ecstatic |archive-date=June 19, 2016 |url-status=live }}</ref>

==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.<ref name="Gale - Product Login"/>

''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."<ref>{{rotten-tomatoes|killer_of_sheep|Killer of Sheep}} Retrieved February 11, 2014</ref> 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]],<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.killerofsheep.com/about.html|title=Killer of Sheep - A Film by Charles Burnett - About the Film|website=www.killerofsheep.com|access-date=2019-11-16}}</ref> 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."<ref name=salon>[http://www.salon.com/ent/movies/review/2007/03/30/killer/index.html "Killer of Sheep"] by Andrew O'Hehir, [[Salon.com]], March 30, 2007</ref>

In 1990, the [[Library of Congress]] selected it as part of the [[National Film Registry]] for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant."<ref name=salon/>

In 2008, ''[[Empire (film magazine)|Empire]]'' magazine ranked the film No. 398 of ''The 500 Greatest Movies of All Time''.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20120119034539/https://www.empireonline.com/500/21.asp ''Empire's'' The 500 Greatest Movies of All Time.] ''[[Empire (magazine)|Empire]]'' via [[Internet Archive]]. Retrieved August 5, 2010.</ref>

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.<ref name=bbc>[http://www.bbc.com/culture/story/20150720-the-100-greatest-american-films "The 100 Greatest American Films"], [[bbc.com]], July 20, 2015</ref>

===Lists===
The film appeared on several critics' top ten lists of the best films released in 2007.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.metacritic.com/film/awards/2007/toptens.shtml|title=Metacritic: 2007 Film Critic Top Ten Lists|website=[[Metacritic]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080102102034/http://www.metacritic.com/film/awards/2007/toptens.shtml|archive-date=January 2, 2008|url-status=dead}}</ref>
*1st – Ed Gonzalez, ''[[Slant Magazine]]''
*2nd – Philip Martin, ''[[Arkansas Democrat-Gazette]]''
*3rd – Glenn Kenny, ''[[Premiere (magazine)|Premiere]]''
*3rd – Michael Sragow, ''[[The Baltimore Sun]]''
*3rd – Nick Schager, ''[[Slant Magazine]]''
*3rd – Richard Corliss, [[Time (magazine)|''TIME'' magazine]]
*5th – Dana Stevens, ''[[Slate (magazine)|Slate]]''
*10th – Ella Taylor, ''[[LA Weekly]]''

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

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''), ''[https://www.cinema.ucla.edu/la-rebellion/films/horse 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]].

The film is set to make its UHD debut through [[The Criterion Collection]], releasing a [[Ultra HD Blu-ray|4K]]/[[Blu-ray]] combo pack in May of 2025.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Killer of Sheep (1978) |url=https://www.criterion.com/films/34233-killer-of-sheep |access-date=March 6, 2025 |website=The Criterion Collection}}</ref>

==See also==
*[[L.A. Rebellion]]
*''[[Undun]]''
*''[[To Sleep with Anger]]''

==References==
{{Reflist|2}}

==External links==
*{{Official website|http://www.killerofsheep.com/}}
*{{IMDb title|0076263|Killer of Sheep}}
*{{TCMDb title|id=80260}}
*{{Mojo title|killerofsheep|Killer of Sheep}}
*{{Metacritic film|title=Killer of Sheep}}
*{{Rotten Tomatoes|killer_of_sheep|Killer of Sheep}}
*[https://archive.today/20130129085145/http://moviemorlocks.com/2007/05/12/ghetto-blues-beauty-and-despair-in-watts.html Ghetto Blues: Beauty & Despair in Watts (TCM Movie Morlocks)]
*''Killer of Sheep'' essay by Daniel Eagan in America's Film Legacy: The Authoritative Guide to the Landmark Movies in the National Film Registry, Bloomsbury Academic, 2010 {{ISBN|0826429777}}, pages 737-738 [https://books.google.com/books?id=deq3xI8OmCkC]
*[https://archive.org/details/cunytv_CTCN0076 ''Cinema Then, Cinema Now: Killer of Sheep''] a 1993 discussion of the film with Basil Wilson, hosted by [[Jerry Carlson]] of [[CUNY TV]]

{{Charles Burnett}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Killer Of Sheep}}
[[Category:1978 films]]
[[Category:1978 drama films]]
[[Category:1978 independent films]]
[[Category:1970s English-language films]]
[[Category:African-American drama films]]
[[Category:Films directed by Charles Burnett (director)]]
[[Category:American black-and-white films]]
[[Category:American independent films]]
[[Category:Films about social realism]]
[[Category:United States National Film Registry films]]
[[Category:Films set in Los Angeles]]
[[Category:Films shot in Los Angeles]]
[[Category:Films about sheep]]
[[Category:Non-narrative films]]
[[Category:American student films]]
[[Category:1978 directorial debut films]]
[[Category:1970s American films]]
[[Category:English-language independent films]]
[[Category:English-language drama films]]