{"id":32755,"date":"2020-02-20T18:11:57","date_gmt":"2020-02-20T23:11:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/?p=32755"},"modified":"2020-02-20T18:14:27","modified_gmt":"2020-02-20T23:14:27","slug":"killer-of-sheep-1978","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/2020\/02\/20\/killer-of-sheep-1978\/","title":{"rendered":"Killer of Sheep (1978)"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>There isn\u2019t really an overall narrative or story arc present in Charles Burnett\u2019s \u201cKiller of Sheep,\u201d and that\u2019s the point. There\u2019s really nothing more dramatic meant to be expressed in \u201cKiller of Sheep\u201d beyond the experience of drudgery of poverty, and the inevitability of committing and experiencing crime in the throes of poverty. \u201cKiller of Sheep\u201d is a tightly paced and often compelling urban drama about life in the LA ghettos, and it\u2019s worth the watch as a piece of film history nearly lost to the ages. It\u2019s held up in the face of age, more so than many other classics as its managed to represent overtones and themes that are still relevant today.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Director Burnett captures with timeless precision, the sheer wasteland that is poverty for many, and grabs this image through two perspectives. Burnett, through stunning simplistic direction, explores the boredom of young children through the ghettos of LA as they pass the time day to day. They run through abandoned construction sites, get into occasional scuffles, and a few even run across street hoods, but every so often. If you look beyond the seemingly random shots of ghetto life, you\u2019ll see basically a portrait of a life that hasn\u2019t changed much even in the millennium.<\/p>\n

True, Burnett obviously didn\u2019t have the millennium in mind when directing this film on only ten thousand dollars, but \u201cKiller of Sheep\u201d takes on a life of its own in its timeless portrait of the impoverished and how little has been changed. We focus on a working man named Stan who is just so tired of the life he lives as a man who kills sheep in a slaughter house. Henry Gayle Sanders is the center of Burnett\u2019s piece, giving a wonderful performance as a man who just has bigger dreams and thoughts on his mind and can\u2019t find the right person to listen to him.<\/p>\n

Through his appreciating the smaller things in his life, he\u2019s occasionally presented with the opportunity of crime to further himself financially, as all impoverished folks are. As well he\u2019s presented with new opportunities that he refuses to grasp at fear of losing the crumbling stability in his life. Burnett ponders on life in poverty and the occasional moments of pure clarity and beauty within the misery conveyed with stark black and white photography, and realism that\u2019s almost startling in its raw form. Director Sanders injects a charming humility that makes him a compelling leading man; he hardly seems to be trying at all in the role as this man seeking a different way of life. I mean that as a compliment as his presence on-screen is so natural.<\/p>\n

Through it all, Burnett\u2019s picture of life in the ghettos is just beautiful. It\u2019s the picture of the character Stan\u2019s young daughter singing along to her favorite song really sums up what the reason for Stan\u2019s motivation to keep risks aside is. Even in the face of sheer failure and disappointment he keeps going for her. \u201cKiller of Sheep\u201d is a timeless depiction of life in the ghettos, thanks to Burnett\u2019s utterly raw perspective.<\/p>\n