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Killer of Sheep
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Killer of Sheep

1978
Drama
1h 20m
Killer of Sheep examines the black Los Angeles ghetto of Watts in the mid-1970s through the eyes of Stan, a sensitive dreamer who is growing detached and numb from the psychic toll of working at a slaughterhouse. The film offers no solutions; it merely presents life -- sometimes hauntingly bleak, sometimes filled with transcendent joy and gentle humor. (Milestone Film & Video)
Directed by:
Charles Burnett Charles Burnett
Written by:
Charles Burnett Charles Burnett
Starring:
Henry G. Sanders Kaycee Moore Charles Bracy Angela Burnett Eugene Cherry Jack Drummond Tobar Mayo Slim Delores Farley Dorothy Stengel Chris Terrill Lawrence Pierott
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Genre:
Drama
Country:
USA
Language:
English
imdb More information at IMDb
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Killer of Sheep

1978
Drama
1h 20m
Your probable score
Ratings & Reviews Cast Collections Similar Stats Trailer
Avg Percentile 67.28% from 598 total ratings
Ratings & Reviews Cast Collections Similar Stats Trailer

Ratings & Reviews

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alex_watkinsAlex Watkins
Rated 12 Jul 2008
5
91st
Shades of John Cassavetes' Shadows, though a much greater film than that one. It's almost impossible not think of Cassavetes when watching this film; the ultra-realistic, uncluttered-yet-messy naturalism that Cassavetes was famous for is pervasive throughout, and it makes this film one of the most honest and natural you'll ever see. There's a resigned quality to it: dejected, but not hopeless or despairing, and finding a quiet grace in dignity.
Rated 12 Jul 2008
djrossdjross
Rated 26 Nov 2013
72
81st
For almost the first half hour I thought I would hate this, mainly because some of the acting is rudimentary and some of the early scenes rather cloying, but in the second half, and to my surprise, I found my opinion considerably altered. To a large extent this film is a successful Kuleshovian demonstration of the affective power that can be achieved by juxtaposing image and music.
Rated 26 Nov 2013
sellissellis
Rated 19 Nov 2020
91
90th
Candid. Cinematic. Certainly one of the greatest soundtracks - this compilation dictates the fluidity of soulfulness by which these moments progress. This creates a nostalgic quality without ever committing to a singular perspective. An incredible feat in itself. Burnett's honesty is showing flaws and contradictions without ever forgetting what he finds endearing. Bitter earth, indeed.
Rated 19 Nov 2020
peaceanarchyPeaceAnarchy
Rated 03 Jun 2008
80
61st
This is undoubtedly talented film making, especially considering its low budget, but its unfocused nature and the often stilted acting keep it from greatness. Still, it's a very interesting poetic portrait of life in Watts in the 1970's. The raw images and music are really captivating and while it kind of falters as a whole it has a ton of great little scenes that most definitely make it worth watching.
Rated 03 Jun 2008
perrystroikaPerryStroika
Rated 16 Feb 2013
77
94th
The use of music, the combination of image and sound, can be quite exquisite. (FYI The rights to the music cost about fifteen times as much as the entire budget of the film.) Burnett cuts between the sheep at the slaughterhouse and the people, descending from birth into the meat grinder of poverty and brutality. Unflinching, but tender.
Rated 16 Feb 2013
shmendrekShmendrek
Rated 31 Jan 2008
6
99th
Now that this has a DVD release, I hope more people get the chance to see it. It's an incredibly warm and honest film.
Rated 31 Jan 2008
optimusmikeOptimus_mike
Rated 17 Jan 2009
100
98th
Killer of Sheep is a rather difficult film to review. It's so personal and well shot that it really makes you feel that your not watching a movie but instead actually viewing their lives. The film is full of wonderful moments of beauty and the soundtrack only adds to the charm. An excellent film only made better by the fact that it was filmed for only $10,000. This movie is of such high caliber that it now for me is the benchmark for all "indie" films.
Rated 17 Jan 2009
wetwillieswetwillies
Rated 16 Nov 2013
85
59th
It is easy to see why this film has so many fans. Simple and natural in a way that few films are; the raw simplicity of the visuals is often striking and the film has some scenes that are unforgettable (the girl singing while playing with her doll - goddamn).
Rated 16 Nov 2013
mentaculusMentaculus
Rated 30 Aug 2018
90
89th
A film where a simple waltz between two estranged married partners overwhelms with sensuality and brutal emotion; and the arid landscape, with holes in houses and settling mists of dirt, reveal children at play. Burnett's punctuating the film with children - youths not just making due with their circumstance, but making the best of it - gives away an optimism at constant odds with the visual experience. At times, these children leap over buildings.
Rated 30 Aug 2018
lisa_iilisa-
Rated 07 Nov 2014
5
70th
initially irritating, some poor acting, and often hard to follow, but this is a very unique example of american 'independent' cinema at the time. it has no interest in narrative, with the camera instead jumping around a poor african american town. kids play and fight with each other, adults talk and fight with each other, and parents and children together basically just fight. charles mixes in a wide variety of music to manipulate our emotions, sometimes sympathetically, sometimes sardonically.
Rated 07 Nov 2014
pickpocketPickpocket
Rated 30 Jan 2008
8
82nd
It's hard to watch this movie and even harder to review it. It's so good and honest and obviously a response to Watts. Nothing really happens but nothing has to. Maybe the best 10,000 dollars ever spent on film.
Rated 30 Jan 2008
syntheseizurSyntheseizur
Rated 18 Sep 2012
56
10th
I didn't hate this movie, I just couldn't help but feel indifferent the whole time. It's clearly well-made, especially for a student film, and strictly as a portrait of the lower-class, it's solid. My biggest problem is its lack of narrative focus, even though on paper it sounds perfect. I felt like I had nothing to latch onto, emotionally or philosophically or intellectually, but that probably sounds flippant. I don't know, Criticker told me I'd give it an 88. I'm a little bewildered honestly.
Rated 18 Sep 2012
auhasarderikauhasarderik
Rated 12 Oct 2018
5
22nd
Very realistic slice-of-poverty drama, and very careless about anything that isn't that, to the extent that it feels very overlong at 80 minutes. There's an interesting use of music, but that comes mostly in the second half, and you have to get there, which might be hard if you're not into slum tourism.
Rated 12 Oct 2018
susie_mauvesusie-mauve
Rated 04 Feb 2014
85
65th
Don't watch this if you're bored or tired or angry, as it tends to drag a little. But it does so only because it is so realistic and naturally depictive of the characters' simple lives. I love how the camera sees everyone having a good time or being super vulnerable or being just a little bit mean. I particularly love the kids sets of footage and the ins and outs of Stan and his wife's marriage. No exaggerations, just clean portrayal.
Rated 04 Feb 2014
luna6ixLuna6ix
Rated 18 Jul 2009
75
52nd
the gritty realism employed by this movie is, along with some outstanding music, its best feature; had that realism been complemented by a fine story it would have been great. the acting is impressive for the minimal budget, and the camerawork is well handled. i feel that if burnett would have handed off the writing duties to someone better versed in the craft, and he would have been funded better this movie could have been about twice as good. the ending scene is simply fantastic.
Rated 18 Jul 2009
roujinroujin
Rated 04 Feb 2008
50
34th
Raw yet lyrical portrait of life in Watts. It's very rough around the edges (cost $10,000 after all) but overall worth the price (whatever you paid for it.)
Rated 04 Feb 2008
nathan_sNathan S
Rated 30 Jan 2016
5
93rd
One of the great works of American independent filmmaking, indispensable to the canon of black cinema, striving for authenticity, and bearing the fruit of its inspirations (neorealism, Cassavetes, S. Ray). Realist, mosaic, and nearly non-narrative. Captures the essentials: growing up playful and mischievous, neighborhood communion, parenthood, a quotidian working life, financial anxiety, midlife angst. Stoic and resigned, but not without a sense of humor, and a beautifully curated soundtrack.
Rated 30 Jan 2016
martintellerMartinTeller
Rated 19 Oct 2008
80
66th
The sense of composition and knowing where to find interesting shots is the mark of a true talent. The rambling narrative is either a plus or a minus, depending on your preference. As an ultra-low-budget, black & white, first feature film from a black director about lower-class city life, it reminded me a lot of Straight Out of Brooklyn. This is a lot better than that movie, but they do share one notable flaw: poor acting. Not all the time, but enough to make it distracting.
Rated 19 Oct 2008
danastevensdanastevens
Rated 30 Nov 2012
90
92nd
Seeing Killer of Sheep is an experience as simple and indelible as watching Bresson's "Pickpocket" or De Sica's "Bicycle Thieves" for the first time. Despite its aesthetic debt to European art cinema, Burnett's film is quintessentially American in its tone and subject matter. If there's any modern-day equivalent for the movie's matter-of-fact gaze on the ravages of urban poverty, it's the HBO series "The Wire."
Rated 30 Nov 2012
icarusIcarus
Rated 22 Oct 2007
94
95th
From the first moments, the imagery here is just so rooted, so concrete, so grounded in a time and place. The cuts and framing are often surprising, even jolting at times. Stan's almost Bressonian demeanor is striking in the midst of a much more explicitly emotional landscape than we would typically find in Bresson. This heightens the sense of crisis in Stan's life, even as he goes through the normal motions of life. Also, I could watch that slow dance 50 times and not tire of it.
Rated 22 Oct 2007
p_u_l_pP u l p
Rated 13 Apr 2019
76
83rd
Better than anything that Spike Lee ever made.
Rated 13 Apr 2019
norvaljonesnorval_jones
Rated 20 Jul 2009
57
12th
The emperor is wearing no clothes.
Rated 20 Jul 2009
cinemahellcinema_hell
Rated 13 Apr 2009
80
62nd
The working man/sheep metaphor is kinda obvious. It has a nice cinematography. It's boring, but also short, so it's worth a watch.
Rated 13 Apr 2009
jpfergusonJPFerguson
Rated 29 Oct 2023
60
54th
While the shot composition and use of music is highly impactful and indeed impressive, in particular the scenes at the slaughterhouse, whenever the 'actors' open their mouths (except to sing) it is jarring and in a bad way. Further evidence for my claim (actually it's Orson Welles' argument) that neorealism is fundamentally anti-cinematic.
Rated 29 Oct 2023
ronthedogronthedog
Rated 04 Dec 2023
94
98th
Loved this. Loved the rough edges, loved the people, the kids, the lack of plot, stunning.
Rated 04 Dec 2023
glumpy99glumpy_99
Rated 19 Jun 2023
84
73rd
Meandering, wanderingly abstract view of a ghetto-ised neighbourhood circa the 1970s – certainly captures the flavour of a sad “bitter Earth” effectively, and maintains a stripped back, realistic tone for the duration, without ever attempting to sentimentalise (or resolve) its central characters' problems; it even manages to evoke a certain nobility (is the final scene a surrender to the drudge or a bittersweet “is that all there is”). Fascinating and in its way quietly haunting.
Rated 19 Jun 2023
neonmanNeonman
Rated 30 Sep 2016
84
77th
I felt glad this film didn't have a straight-forward narrative, I was pleased to view this mosaic of life in this Los Angeles ghetto of the '70s that could be likened to a docu-drama, though the way it has been shot and the way these events take place in front of the camera is very revealing of this community. Although there's a sadness that strongly permeates each and every scene, it can also be rather funny at times (especially the gag with the car battery). The soundtrack also really helps.
Rated 30 Sep 2016
hanekesoloHanekeSolo
Rated 09 Mar 2010
94
88th
Breathtaking.
Rated 09 Mar 2010
theyshoot07theyshoot07
Rated 02 Mar 2008
75
60th
# 508
Rated 02 Mar 2008
staryarabbistaryarabbi
Rated 19 Jul 2016
50
26th
I started this one expecting to be liking it but its rudimentariness didn't seem something supporting the narrative or the subject matter of the film. Instead of an imperfect aesthetic of the third cinema, this one seems to be the result of real lack of resources. And I couldn't discover any poignancy nor poetry. Only being the first movie in a certain subject or underlining the lives of exploited ones shouldn't be a shield to overrate movies.
Rated 19 Jul 2016
nepetaNepeta
Rated 19 Jan 2013
90
90th
Acknowledging the situation and, if only because there is no other option, giving in to the situation but never forgetting that there is still the potential for joy and love and for that reason never becoming completely hopeless. The scene where Stan and his wife dance to "This Bitter Earth" by Dinah Washington is quietly devastating.
Rated 19 Jan 2013
hotsakehotsake
Rated 24 Dec 2023
50
34th
The movie is presented in a very naturalistic way, but naturalistic doesn't mean good or entertaining. I personally need one of two things, a story or a person to be invested in and unfortunately, this had neither.
Rated 24 Dec 2023
dodesukadentdodesukadent
Rated 22 Mar 2009
90
75th
Must see again!
Rated 22 Mar 2009
bownBown
Rated 05 Dec 2022
85
75th
One of cinema’s most remarkable depictions of a time and place and a clear influence on so many films, both for its depiction of a poor black neighbourhood and its fragmented style.
Rated 05 Dec 2022
theyshoot08theyshoot08
Rated 19 Dec 2008
83
66th
350
Rated 19 Dec 2008
darrenDarren
Rated 05 May 2022
81
79th
Burnett a huge blind spot for me but now I’m just going to watch everything he’s ever done. Very moving stuff. Typical words that are used to describe this are the only ones I can think of. American 70’s cinema is a lot more than what is perceived
Rated 05 May 2022
keithbreesekeithbreese
Rated 28 Feb 2009
100
97th
"...as powerful and moving a film as it's been rumored to be."
Rated 28 Feb 2009
tonykbTonyKB
Rated 11 Jun 2014
80
63rd
Utradisjonell med tanke på tiden den ble laget i. Følger en afro-amerikansk familie uten å egentlig hekte seg på noe plott. En rekke scener som viser forskjellige aspekter ved deres hverdag, men som til sammen utgjør en større helhet som ikke tidligere var vist på amerikansk film. Har lyst til å se denne igjen, for å se om det var noe som gikk over hodet på meg ved første gjennomgang.
Rated 11 Jun 2014
torontodogtorontodog
Rated 07 Feb 2008
90
94th
Not your typical formula movie. There is no plot, no melodrama, no suspense, only reality. But it is the best movie I've ever seen about the ghetto. Similar to the Apu trilogy, or Italian neo-realism. If they would have had a better budget to polish the sound a little, I'd have given it 100.
Rated 07 Feb 2008
prowlerprowler
Rated 05 Feb 2014
79
80th
just a beautiful portrayal of real life, very well constructed although you wouldn't tell at first
Rated 05 Feb 2014
tpbradburytpbradbury
Rated 27 Dec 2022
31
21st
I feel inadequate that i didn't enjoy this film, perhaps i identify with the main character too much
Rated 27 Dec 2022
akatemossfanAKateMossFan
Rated 08 Nov 2021
2
21st
jerror74JError74
Rated 18 Apr 2024
86
78th
moraesfelipemoraesfelipe
Rated 10 May 2021
90
95th
Masterclass of American independent filmmaking that shows in exquisite, so-realistic-so-dreamy fashion you don't need readymade speeches or empty 'movie messages' to convey something relevant, existential or just resonant regarding the working class experience. Gotta love how Burnett combines scenes with pop music -- that couple dancing to This Bitter Earth is just one of the best dancing scenes ever shot -- and creates an original aura out of the most mundane situations -- kids jumping rooftops
Rated 10 May 2021
iyisinekiyisinek
Rated 06 Oct 2013
10
2nd
zenci mahallesi, mahalle filmi, çocuklar, hirsizlar, kasap, koyun (Konusu yok, neredeyse belgesel olacakmis; SIKICI)
Rated 06 Oct 2013
natebarriosnatebarrios
Rated 24 Jan 2013
80
86th
Intensely artistic and intimate. The first "This Bitter Earth" scene is amazing alone.
Rated 24 Jan 2013
calexicoCalexico
Rated 31 Dec 2014
80
66th
Strong, insightful, thought-provoking movie.
Rated 31 Dec 2014
kasperlKasperL
Rated 01 Mar 2018
75
77th
A pocket in time. Loved the soundtrack.
Rated 01 Mar 2018
begoniabolbegoniabol
Rated 01 Feb 2011
82
83rd
Really good. Those kids are too cute. The movie feels quite real, nothing much happens but that's the point and it works
Rated 01 Feb 2011
slantmagSlantMag
Rated 19 Oct 2010
40
97th
"The fly-on-the-wall narrative observes the life of a slaughterhouse worker who grapples with poverty, misbehaving children, and the allure of violence." - Ed Gonzalez
Rated 19 Oct 2010
thedicemanTheDiceman
Rated 08 Aug 2013
80
95th
Reminds me of my childhood except I'm from Belfast Northern Ireland.70's was much the same for a kid in Belfast.
Rated 08 Aug 2013
guvolefouguvolefou
Rated 06 Mar 2012
85
92nd
This is what I call a "Independent Movie".
Rated 06 Mar 2012
ericamblerericambler
Rated 08 Aug 2016
76
65th
Watts plays itself.
Rated 08 Aug 2016
moribunnyMoribunny
Rated 20 Jun 2010
75
84th
The realist, social realist, low-budget response to the mainstream "blaxploitation" cinema of its day.
Rated 20 Jun 2010
hombredemaizHombredeMaiz
Rated 06 Jul 2021
100
98th
Burnett films life as it happens through the struggles of being black and poor in Watts. Not sentimental. Not melodramatic. Nontraditional narrative structure. It's the lives of people as they face the challenges of the day while also trying to grow up, fall in love, and support one another. Lyrical. Beautiful. There isn't much like this film, especially not with the subject of poor people of color. A triumph of American independent film and African-American film.
Rated 06 Jul 2021
xacviantxacviant
Rated 30 Sep 2017
81
53rd
Some superb imagery and evocative episodes, but the lack of narrative makes it slow-going at times, even at 80 minutes. Still, it's probably essential.
Rated 30 Sep 2017
theyshoot10theyshoot10
Rated 13 Jan 2010
84
68th
326
Rated 13 Jan 2010
shockularSHOCKULAR
Rated 22 Jul 2022
70
41st
This was a student film, so there are some aspects that are rough around the edges (the nonprofessional actors are hit or miss, as you might expect, though on the whole better than in other films I've seen with nonprofessional casts, and the narrative is unfocused/nonexistent at times.) That said, as a slice of life film it's a success, with well chosen music adding emotional depth and it has a feel of true authenticity. A fine film by any standard, and an amazing one as a $10,000 student work.
Rated 22 Jul 2022
aceysaid10AceySaid10%
Rated 05 Jun 2012
80
49th
HA! I knew I spotted Mos Def's 'The Ecstatic' album cover. Very creative indie movie for the 70s...but obviously pretty dry.
Rated 05 Jun 2012
dowlingjDowling_J
Rated 04 Aug 2008
70
46th
Seems like a mix of the Little Rascals, Roots, and something a little darker. It's obvious that the Director/Writer tells a tale about a time and place, even a parallel universe, which he knows intimately and probably grew up in. Worth watching; before this lifestyle disappears or already has disappeared.
Rated 04 Aug 2008
theyshoot11theyshoot11
Rated 30 Nov 2011
83
66th
#337
Rated 30 Nov 2011
pilgermannpilgermann
Rated 06 Aug 2008
75
64th
An interesting film, but I feel like I would've been happier to just watch a movie showing the kids at play. The whole thing doesn't seem to gel (for example, the scene at the apartment where Stan and his friend were buying an old motor was kind of clumsy and confusing). Worth watching but it didn't have a strong effect on me.
Rated 06 Aug 2008
jazzalohaJazzaloha
Rated 22 Nov 2009
84
96th
A marvel. A slice-of-life/docudrama that is a work of art. Better than anything Spike Lee ever made.
Rated 22 Nov 2009

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