Killer of Sheep - % % % % %

Killer of Sheep has been called a hidden masterpiece for decades. Problems with securing the rights to the music in the film kept it from getting distribution. Few people understand the extraordinary prices attached to music rights that generally serve to promote the music and future music sales. But I digress from the film, which is quite extraordinary.

Why are there no other films quite like it? Killer of Sheep follows a man through his middle aged life trying to make it through a difficult job, living poorly with crime always a tempting opportunity, raising kids while sustaining a relationship with his wife. Pretty mundane in many respects. Yet the film exists in a hot dream-like world. Shot in 16mm black and white the film transports us to a kind of rural reverie, akin to the opening of the Wizard of Oz, without the intensely performed musical numbers. In Killer of Sheep, the only musical performance is that of a little girl in a closet singing to her doll. The main character suffers from sleep deprivation and this dreary, muddled atmosphere follows throughout the film, lulling the audience into a somnambulic acquiescence. We are awakened by heart-ache as we see good intentions crash from the back of a pick-up truck or the sad dignity of this family trying to keep the lure of crime at bay.

The scenes of kids playing in vacant lots surrounded by buildings nearing collapse and train yards with paralyzed cars cemented in place create the magic of the film. The central performances are powerful and intimate, but the scenes with the children reveal a resilient joy and a befuddled persistence. These qualities are what make Killer of Sheep unique and appealing.