What It's About:

Living hand to mouth in the Watts section of Los Angeles, Stan (Sanders) toils at a slaughterhouse, where the dispiriting and mind-numbing routine of dispatching livestock leaves him emotionally remote from his wife (Moore) and young son. Under these circumstances, life's pleasures come in small and unexpected ways.

Why I Love It:

Burnett's tender, affecting film, a landmark in American independent cinema, hasn't much of a plot, content instead to observe the melancholic daily existence of an impoverished African-American neighborhood. But its neorealist aesthetic, lugubrious pace, and minimal storyline are the ingredients for a surprisingly moving film that depicts ghetto life with lasting beauty and an authentic sense of humanity. Both touching and heartbreaking, with a sweet jazz score setting a mood of inner yearning, "Killer of Sheep", hidden away too long, should be at the top of your must-see list.