Killer of Sheep

This film was made by Charles Burnett for $10K as a thesis film at UCLA in 1977. It got enough attention at festivals to become one of the first 50 films added to the National Film Registry (also named one of the “100 Essential Films of All Time” by the National Society of Film Critics), but was only last year restored and released by Milestone Films. They had finally secured the rights to the music that is so integral to the film’s impact, from Paul Robeson to Dinah Washington. This black & white portrait of an all black community in Watts is photographed in a style that calls to mind Henri Cartier-Bresson and Helen Leavitt, and the music carries enough emotional weight to make up for some amateurish acting and sound. The lead couple certainly have presence, however, and the groups of kids playing in streets or vacant lots or up on the roof, all breathe with documentary verisimilitude and are captured with a refined visual balance. Even at its modest length, the film is rambling and inconsequential, but as long as your expectations are not raised too high by critical raves, you will find it worth seeing. (2007, TCM/T, n.) *7-* (MC-94.)