GRADE: 9
Set in the Watts area of Los Angeles, a slaughterhouse worker must suspend his emotions to continue working at a job he finds repugnant, and then he finds he has little sensitivity for the family he works so hard to support.
Director: Charles Burnett
Country: USA
THOUGHTS:
The kind of film that feels so simple and unexceptional—until you realize you’ve never seen another film quite like it. It’s a sympathetic look at the hopelessness and lack of purpose among the inhabitants of an urban ghetto, its black and white grittiness and poetic touches recalling the Italian Neorealists. The nonprofessional actors are something of a grab bag, but the sense of authenticity somehow permeates regardless, perhaps owing to the easy naturalism of the children. The quiet desperation of the main character is well-summarized in the film’s title: a “killer of sheep” is what he is—it’s all he has to define himself. And if he can’t create a higher meaning for himself, it’s going to eat him alive. A painful but beautiful film about people suffering and persevering in the face of poverty and powerlessness.