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Geek Vibes Nation
21-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Geek Vibes Nation
'Killer Of Sheep' Criterion Collection 4K UHD Blu-Ray Review - A Landmark Piece Of Independent Cinema
A quiet revelation of American independent filmmaking, Charles Burnett's lyrical debut feature unfolds as a mosaic of Black life in the Watts neighborhood of Los Angeles, where Stan (Henry Gayle Sanders), a father worn down by his job in a slaughterhouse, and his wife (Kaycee Moore) seek moments of tenderness in the face of myriad disappointments. Equally attuned to the world of children and that of adults, Burnett—acting as director, writer, producer, cinematographer, and editor—finds poetry amid everyday struggles in indelible images that glow with compassionate beauty. Largely unseen for decades following its completion in 1977, Killer of Sheep is now recognized as a touchstone of the groundbreaking LA Rebellion movement, and a masterpiece that brought Black American lives to the screen with an aching intimacy like no film before. For thoughts on Killer of Sheep, please check out my thoughts on No Streaming Required: Video Quality The Criterion Collection presents Killer of Sheep on 4K UHD Blu-Ray courtesy of a striking 4K digital restoration from the 16mm fine-grain positive that was created from the 16mm Original Camera Negative via a collaboration between the UCLA Film & Television Archive, Milestone Films, and the Criterion Collection. The film is presented in 2160p with a transfer that shines even without the utilization of HDR. This release marks the first time this film has been made available in HD domestically. The included Blu-Ray is also a rich experience, but the 4K UHD Blu-Ray disc does offer some subtle improvements that make it the preferred choice. The black and white cinematography is exquisite with smooth gradients and subtle textures. The contrast remains stable and provides valuable improvements in sharpness. This transfer retains the handcrafted filmic quality of the picture with gritty film grain giving way to a world of detail in the various environments. This restoration has been handled with such care to reveal more detail than you could even hope. Black levels are deep without any unsightly nuisances such as digital noise or compression artifacts. The Blu-Ray disc has more information it has to handle since it houses the supplements, but the 4K UHD disc allows the movie to breathe on its own. The transfer largely eliminates the dust specks and print damage you might expect from a picture that was overlooked for so many decades. This frame taps into the potential depth of the image which gives way to a pleasing sense of scale within the neighborhood. This experience offers a treasure chest of textural details in the clothing and production design. This transfer is a gift for a film that is an important part of cinema history. This is a knockout effort for anyone who has been waiting for a proper presentation. Audio Quality The 4K UHD Blu-Ray disc comes with a worthy LPCM 1.0 mono track in the original English with optional English SDH subtitles. Although there are some age-related shortcomings, this track does everything it needs to ensure that dialogue comes through as clearly as possible. This was a very low-budget endeavor, but the audio restoration has attempted to bring out all the nuances possible. The music in the feature emerges at key points, and most tracks render with nice fidelity. In a nice development, the track 'Unforgettable' by Dinah Washington that had previously been replaced in 2007 due to music clearance issues has been reinstated for this release. Environmental sounds of kids playing or factory noises are rendered well alongside everything else. There do not seem to be any egregious instances of age-related wear and tear. Criterion has given this film the delicately preserved, authentic audio presentation it deserves. Special Features The Criterion 4K UHD Blu-Ray of Killer of Sheep includes a foldout pamphlet featuring the essay 'Everyday Blues' by author Danielle Amir Jackson which explores the themes, the history of its release, the legacy of the film, and more that is very illuminating. The on-disc special features are as follows: Audio Commentary: Director Charles Burnett provides a commentary track moderated by film scholar Richard Peña in which he discusses the preservation efforts, the inspiration for the title, the production process, his feelings about the film over the years, and more. Charles Burnett: A new 13-minute interview with the filmmaker in which he discusses his history with Black cinema, his background, wanting to show that people of color could achieve things, the inspiration he drew from his real life, and more. Henry Gayle Sanders: A new 17-minute interview with the actor who discusses his background, using his GI bill to attend acting school, meeting Charles Burnett, his relationship to some of his fellow performers, the experience of shooting the film, filming on location, and more. Barry Jenkins: A new 19-minute interview with filmmaker Barry Jenkins ( The Underground Railroad ) in which he discusses the major impact of Killer of Sheep on his work, the first time he saw the film, the unique aspects of the film, some of the most memorable moments of the feature, and more. Short Films: Two early short films from Burnett's time at UCLA are provided that show his great talent even before this feature. Several Friends (1969) (22:03) The Horse (1973) (13:53) Charles Burnett On The Horse: A new minute-long anecdote from Burnett about the influence of William Faulkner on his short film. LA Rebellion Oral History Project: A 19-minute interview with Charles Burnett from 2010 in which he discusses the LA Rebellion from his time at UCLA in which filmmakers from diverse communities came together to carve a new path of Black independent cinema. A Walk With Charles Burnett: A 56-minute documentary in which Charles Burnett takes a walk with filmmaker Robert Townsend ( Hollywood Shuffle ) through the Watts neighborhood featured in Killer of Sheep. Along this journey, Burnett discusses the impact of his neighborhood on his life, his drive to tell stories about people of color, and more. Cast Reunion: A six-minute reunion video for the 2007 screening of the movie in Los Angeles at a local coffee shop. Trailer (2:17) Final Thoughts Killer of Sheep is a powerful bit of independent filmmaking that goes beyond the scope of what the studio system was willing to explore as it pertains to the lives of Black Americans. The film feels viscerally natural with authentic performances from both the adults and the young kids. The film will feel refreshing to those who have only seen Black lives depicted in very stereotypical ways from this era of cinema. The Criterion Collection has delivered a new 4K UHD Blu-Ray that offers a terrific A/V presentation and some valuable special features. If you are a fan of the film, you will be rewarded for your patience at long last. Highly Recommended The Criterion Collection edition of Killer of Sheep will be available to purchase on 4K UHD and Blu-Ray on May 27, 2025. Note: Images presented in this review are not reflective of the image quality of the 4K UHD Blu-Ray. Disclaimer: The Criterion Collection has supplied a copy of this disc free of charge for review purposes. All opinions in this review are the honest reactions of the author.
The Independent
23-04-2025
- Entertainment
- The Independent
Charles Burnett on the never-ending battle of 'Killer of Sheep'
Charles Burnett has been living with 'Killer of Sheep' for more than half a century. Burnett, 82, shot 'Killer of Sheep' on black-and-white 16mm in the early 1970s for less than $10,000. Originally Burnett's thesis film at UCLA, it was completed in 1978. In the coming years, 'Killer of Sheep' would be hailed as a masterpiece of Black independent cinema and one of the finest film debuts, ever. Though it didn't receive a widespread theatrical release until 2007, the blues of 'Killer of Sheep' have sounded across generations of American movies. And time has only deepened the gentle soulfulness of Burnett's film, a portrait of the slaughterhouse worker Stan (Henry G. Sanders) and his young family in Los Angeles' Watts neighborhood. 'Killer of Sheep' was then, and remains, a rare chronicle of working-class Black life, radiant in lyrical poetry — a couple slow dancing to Dinah Washington's 'This Bitter Earth,' boys leaping between rooftops — and hard-worn with daily struggle. A new 4K restoration — complete with the film's full original score — is now playing in theaters, an occasion that recently brought Burnett from his home in Los Angeles to New York, where he met The Associated Press shortly after arriving. Burnett's career has been marked by revival and rediscovery (he received an honorary Oscar in 2007), but this latest renaissance has been an especially vibrant one. In February, Kino Lorber released Burnett's 'The Annihilation of Fish,' a 1999 film starring James Earl Jones and Lynn Redgrave that had never been commercially distributed. It was widely hailed as a quirky lost gem about a pair of lost souls. On Friday, Lincoln Center launches 'L.A. Rebellion: Then and Now,' a film series about the movement of 1970s UCLA filmmakers, including Burnett, Julie Dash and Billy Woodberry, who remade Black cinema. The Mississippi-born, Watts-raised Burnett is soft-spoken but has much to say — only some of which has filtered into his seven features (among them 1990's 'To Sleep With Anger') and numerous short films (some of the best are 'When It Rains' and 'The Horse'). The New Yorker's Richard Brody once called the unmade films of Burnett and his L.A. Rebellion contemporaries 'modern cinema's holy spectres.' But on a recent spring day, Burnett's mind was more on Stan of 'Killer of Sheep.' Burnett sees his protagonist's pain and endurance less as a thing of the past than as a frustratingly eternal plight. If 'Killer of Sheep' was made to capture the humanity of a Black family and give his community a dignity that had been denied them, Burnett sees the same need today. The conversation has been edited for brevity and clarity. AP: The most abiding quality in your films seems to me to be tenderness. Where did you get that? BURNETT: I grew up in a neighborhood (Watts) where everyone was from the South. There was a lot of tradition. It was a different culture, a different group of people living there — people who had experienced a great deal and kept their humanity. And they had a work ethic. It was a nice atmosphere. People looked after you. I grew up with people who were very gentle. There were the Watts riots when you couldn't walk down the street without police harassing you. Police would stop me and do this forensic search and call you all kind of names while doing it. But in the riots, it wasn't that people got braver. They just got tired. When people got together, they always had the perspective of: Let the kids eat first. AP: In 'Killer of Sheep,' like your short 'The Horse,' you seem to be giving a great deal of thought to the future of these children, and their preparation for the cruelty of the world. BURNETT: In 'Killer of Sheep,' kids were learning how to be men or women. The changing point was when Emmett Till and his picture was being shown everywhere in Jet magazine. All of a sudden, it was no longer this fantasy. You were now aware of the cruelty of the world. I remember a kid who had come home abused, who supposedly fell down the stairs. You learned this dual reality to life. AP: When you watch 'Killer of Sheep' again, what do you see? BURNETT: Life going by. A life that should have been totally different. In high school, I had a teacher who would go walking down the aisle pointing at students saying, 'You're not going to be anything, you're not going to be anything.' He got to me and said, 'You're not going to be anything.' Now, (Florida Gov. Ron) DeSantis wants to destroy Black history. It's always a battle. AP: What could have been different? BURNETT: Young kids were capable of so much more. We were all looking for a place where you felt like you belonged. America could have been so much greater. The whole world could have been better. AP: In thinking about what could have been different after 'Killer of Sheep,' would you include yourself in that? You're acknowledged as one of the most groundbreaking American filmmakers yet the movie industry often wasn't welcoming. BURNETT: You do the best you can with what you have. There are so many things you want to say. What you find is that sometimes you work with people that don't see eye to eye. Even though I didn't do more, it's still more than what some people made, by far. I'm very happy about that. On the flip side, a lot of times you hear, 'Your films changed my life.' And if you can get that, then you're doing good. One of the things that I found is that people will take advantage of you and make you make the film that they want to make. You need to be somehow independent where you can tell them, 'No, I'm not doing this.' I had to do that a number of times. So you don't work that often. AP: To you, what's the legacy of 'Killer of Sheep'? BURNETT: One of the reasons I did 'Killer of Sheep' the way I did, with kids in the community working in all areas of the production, was to show them that they could do it. I made the film to restore our history, so young people could grow from it and know: I can do this. Even when I was in film school, there was a film production going on in my neighborhood. I was on my bike and I rolled over to see. I asked a guy, 'What set is this?' and he acted like I wouldn't understand. It's changed a bit but there's still this attitude. You look at what Trump and these guys are doing with DEI. It's this constant battle. It can never end. You have to constantly prove yourself. It's a battle, ongoing, ongoing, ongoing.
Los Angeles Times
21-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Los Angeles Times
Charles Burnett on his lost ‘Fish,' plus the week's best films in L.A.
Hello! I'm Mark Olsen. Welcome to another edition of your regular field guide to a world of Only Good Movies. The Slamdance Film Festival is currently underway, taking place for the first time in Los Angeles. Originally started in 1995 by a group of filmmakers rejected by the Sundance Film Festival, Slamdance established its own identity as a community of artists pulling together for themselves. The in-person event will run though Feb. 26, and a virtual program will be accessible to streaming viewers from Feb. 24 through March 7 at 'On one hand, it's business as usual with the discovery of new filmmakers, launching careers and new ideas in filmmaking,' said Peter Baxter, Slamdance president and co-founder, of the festival's move to Los Angeles. 'But then on the other hand, it's a chance for our organization to grow in other ways, to fulfill on that potential, the idea here of a rising tide can float all boats in the world of independent filmmaking.' Following its premiere at the 1999 Toronto International Film Festival, 'The Annihilation of Fish' was never picked up for distribution, in part due to a particularly disastrous review in Variety. Directed by Charles Burnett from a screenplay by Anthony C. Winkler, the film follows two damaged, eccentric adults, Obediah 'Fish' Johnson and Flower 'Poinsettia' Cummings, as they meet at a Los Angeles boarding house and begin an unlikely romance. Starring James Earl Jones and Lynn Redgrave as Fish and Poinsettia, the cast also includes Margot Kidder as Mrs. Muldroone, who runs the boarding house. A delicately touching story of people abandoned by society finding a way to care for each other, the film is enjoying audiences at last, as a new 4K restoration of the film playing around the country is currently having a limited run at the Los Feliz 3 and could add more L.A. dates. A new 4K restoration of Burnett's landmark debut feature, 1977's 'Killer of Sheep' will also be released later this year. Burnett, whose other films include 'To Sleep With Anger' and 'The Glass Shield,' received an honorary Academy Award in 2017. Now 80, the filmmaker got on the phone earlier this week from his home in L.A.'s Baldwin Hills to talk about the rediscovery of 'The Annihilation of Fish.' Has it always bothered you that the movie was lost, that it hadn't been released? Charles Burnett: I didn't feel like it was a lost film, for some reason. A lot of good people were involved in trying to get it out and I had confidence in them, so I really wasn't too worried. Maybe I should have been, but I wasn't. But anyway, those things happen. I'm just lucky to get it out now. I can't complain. A lot of worse things can happen. What attracted you to the project in the first place? Burnett: I think it was the writing of Anthony Winkler. It was a challenge. It was sort of a comedy and it wasn't quite a comedy as such, but it was about human beings trying to find a sense of belonging. They didn't want to miss the opportunity to have a relationship, to experience life in its fullness. And everyone had their own particular problems that they had to overcome. These people coming together made it happen for each other. They were marginalized because of their conditions, their mental condition, but they were basically just like everybody else. Looking to complete their dreams and to find romance and find companionship in this lonely world. Even with 'The Annihilation of Fish,' as whimsical as it can be, you still feel for these characters and become invested in their lives. Has it always been important to you that your films remain connected to the real world? Burnett: It costs so much to make a film, you have to ask, 'What is the best place to put this money? How can I do the most good with this money?' It's not enough just to have people be amused. When I came up, you felt that the civil rights movement and everything, you were part of making a change. And so I sort of kept that. And that's the only way I can justify spending whatever it costs to make a film, to make it relevant. Because it has to. It's not that people say, 'I like your film,' but when they come back and say, 'I saw your film and it changed my life,' you can't ask for anything better than that. That's what I live for. What has it meant to you to have 'The Annihilation of Fish' come out at last and be received so well? Burnett: When the film came out, we had Margot Kidder, James Earl Jones and Lynn Redgrave and they have all passed on now. James Earl Jones particularly, he passed just recently, so he got a chance to maybe hear some of the reviews or something. But I'm glad that at least their families — I mean, James Earl Jones' son came up and said he was very happy and had seen the film three or four times. And he really loved it. And that was really important to me. And it makes it all worthwhile that the length that it took to get it out and people got the good reviews. And I just wish that people like Lynn Redgrave would've been here to enjoy the response. And that makes it worthwhile. To mark the film's 40th anniversary, the American Cinematheque will screen Paul Schrader's 1985 'Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters' on Saturday at the Egyptian Theatre. A deeply stylized portrait of the Japanese author Yukio Mishima (played by Ken Ogata), the film features sets and costumes designed by Eiko Ishioka. In reviewing the film, Sheila Benson wrote, 'The greatest problem is that for all its correctness and all the beauty of its production (Philip Glass' shimmering music, John Bailey's exquisite camerawork), 'Mishima' remains as tantalizing as that Golden Pavilion and as impossible to enter (almost impossible, too, to discuss in limited space). You may not be able to take your eyes from the screen, yet I suspect that comes as much from the filmmakers' passionate conviction that Mishima is a fascinating man than from anything they have told us about him.' In a 1985 interview with The Times' Jack Matthews, Schrader said, 'I've always been interested in people who sort of feel uncomfortable in their own skins, who feel limited by physical existence itself and try to get out. Mishima was certainly one of those people.' Michelle Parkerson at UCLA The UCLA Film and Television Archive will host a two-day series, 'Documenting Michelle Parkerson,' in tribute to the filmmaker whose career spans five decades. As Beandrea July's program notes put it, 'When one immerses themself in Parkerson's work, there is a sense of freedom and an unapologetic pursuit of ideas by a careful hand. … Filmmaker Yvonne Welbon captures the weight of Parkerson's considerable influence: 'For many Black lesbian media makers, Parkerson was our Spike Lee. She was the first Black lesbian filmmaker, and sometimes also the first Black woman filmmaker that we knew. She was an out Black lesbian making movies and she had been doing so for a long time. Because of her, so many of us believed that we too could become filmmakers.'' Saturday's program includes 1993's 'Odds and Ends,' a narrative short made while Parkerson was studying at the AFI's Directing Workshop for Women, along with 1987's 'Stormé: The Lady of the Jewel Box,' about America's first integrated female impersonation show and its first male impersonator, and 1995's 'A Litany for Survival: The Life and Work of Audre Lorde,' a portrait of the poet and activist. Parkerson is scheduled to attend, along with 'A Litany for Survival' co-director-producer Ada Gay Griffin and 'Odds and Ends' associate producer Felecia Howell. Sunday's program will feature 1980's '… But Then, She's Betty Carter,' a portrait of the jazz singer, along with 1983's 'Gotta Make This Journey: Sweet Honey in the Rock,' about the a cappella group. The evening will also include Parkerson's most recent documentary, 2021's 'Fierceness Served! The ENIKAlley Coffeehouse,' about a Black LGBTQ+ performing arts space in mid-1980s Washington, D.C. Parkerson is again scheduled to be in attendance. 'Swept Away' in 4K A new 4K restoration of Italian filmmaker Lina Wertmüller's 1974 film 'Swept Away' will begin a run at the Laemmle Glendale. The film stars Mariangela Melato and Giancarlo Giannini as a wealthy woman and a deckhand, respectively, on her yacht who find themselves unexpectedly thrown together when they become stranded on a remote island. Aside from taking in the beauty of the locations and her actors, Wertmüller wrings the story for political nuances of class and gender. Reviewing the film in 1975, Kevin Thomas said that the film combines elements of 'The Taming of the Shrew' and 'Robinson Crusoe' before adding, 'Miss Wertmuller in her wisdom looks beyond her beautifully orchestrated interplay between the eternal battle of the sexes and equally chronic class warfare to express a philosophical sense of life's absurdities and to attack specifically society's unrelenting tendency to alienate people rather than to bring them together.' 'Looking for Mr. Goodbar' in 35mm Playing in 35mm as part of the Cinematic Void series at the Los Feliz 3, 1977's 'Looking for Mr. Goodbar' stars Diane Keaton as a single woman who teaches deaf children by day and cruises singles bars for hook-ups by night, with her encounters becoming increasingly risky. Directed by Richard Brooks, the film is rife with internal conflicts, as if it wants to revel in a younger generation's freedoms while also feeling a moralistic reluctance to fully give over to something new. The film inspired Times critic Charles Champlin to write about it twice, one a review in October 1977 and the other a reappraisal based on audiences' reactions to the film just a month later. In his initial review, in which he lauded Keaton's performance as among the best of the year, he noted, ' 'Mr. Goodbar' is powerful, sincere and overlong, and if it raises questions about itself it is also thought-provoking. It is a new-fashioned world seen in a rather traditional handling, and its realism is still of the soundstage rather than the documentary. And finally one admires the dedication and integrity with which difficult material was handled, without that satisfaction of feeling (as I think one did after [Brooks'] 'In Cold Blood') that the unthinkable has been made comprehensible.' Big changes for James Bond Ryan Faughnder reported on the news that Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson, the half-siblings who have long presided over the James Bond franchise, have ceded creative control to Amazon MGM Studios. Though Broccoli and Wilson will remain co-owners, this ends some 60 years of one of the world's best-known film series being overseen by a single family. The most recent Bond film, 2021's 'No Time to Die,' brought to an end Daniel Craig's tenure in the role and the future of the series has been a source of speculation ever since.
