I was exposed to Charles Burnett's films at a young age (prior to any knowledge of what
Killer Of Sheep was) thanks to my parents. I'm sure it wasn't their intention to put me on to the work of a great auteur in my early teens, but had it not been for my parents putting down the remote control every time they saw a black face on the television while channel surfing (and the somewhat eclectic cable TV programming back in the early/mid 90's) I wouldn't have been exposed to films like
The Glass Shield,
Nightjohn &
To Sleep With Anger (it should be noted that it was PINNLAND EMPIRE contributor Leanne Kubicz who recommend
Killer Of Sheep to me almost 10 years ago).
My primary reason for doing this entry (besides the fact that I'm a huge fan) is to show certain folks that Charles Burnett’s cinema goes beyond
Killer Of Sheep &
My Brother’s Wedding (a film most people, myself included, wouldn’t have seen had it not been included in the special features of the
Killer Of Sheep DVD). Not to take anything away from either of those movies, because they're both excellent, but his filmography goes deeper. Like F Gary Gray, Wendell B Harris or Matty Rich, Charles Burnett is another black filmmaker that never had much of an alliance or association with other prominent black filmmakers like Robert Townsend & Keenen Ivory Wayans, Spike Lee & Ernest Dickerson or Lee Daniels & Tyler Perry. He’s always had to walk his own path (and in doing so he left behind an incredibly underrated body of work that continues on today).
We’re currently in a climate where a lot of folks are screaming #Oscarsowhite and complaining about a lack of diversity in cinema, yet never shoutout or namedrop (ACTIVE) pioneers & trailblazers like Burnett, but rather typical run-of-the mill films & filmmakers that I won’t even mention. So maybe stop complaining about two or three films not getting recognized for a few minutes and get familiar with Mr. Burnett.
Enjoy…
FAMILY/EXTENDED FAMILY/COMMUNITY
From features (
My Brother’s Wedding, Killer Of Sheep, To Sleep With Anger) to shorts (
When It Rains, Quiet As Kept, Several Friends), a large majority of Burnett’s films are centered around family and/or close-knit communities. Even his movies that have nothing to do with family (
Glass Shield) still feature multiple scenes of the family unit gathered around a dinner table or at some kind of family gathering.
All of this branches off to sub-categories concerning the family unit like the (usually healthy) relationships between father & child, mother & child, and just the overall importance of children.
(and not to make things too much about race but there aren’t too many films that show a “healthy” black family unit outside of religious/Tyler Perry-based films which I personally find problematic)
And in
To Sleep With Anger Burnett explores anger, rage & frustration within black males in a sympathetic kind of way.
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| The Glass Shield |
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| Killer Of Sheep |
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| My Brother's Wedding |
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| Selma Lord Selma |
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| To Sleep With Anger |
With all that being said…
FRUSTRATION & DEPRESSION AMONG BLACK MEN
Depression isn’t often associated with black men (especially in film). And in those few instances where depression
is explored, it’s usually centered around the same struggles (violence, the idea of living & struggling in “the hood”, etc). Burnett’s view of depression in Black men ranges from the fear of poverty & not being able to provide for one’s family (
Killer Of Sheep &
Bless Their Little Hearts) to genocide/colonialism (Namibia) & hopelessness (
The Glass Shield).
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| *Bless Their Little Hearts (directed by Billy Woodburry but written & shot by Burnett) |
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| Killer Of Sheep |
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| My Brother's Wedding |
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| Namibia: The Struggle For Liberation |
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| The Glass Shield |
VILLAINS & SHADY CHARACTERS
Burnett has this unique ability to craft certain characters that just ooze trouble & shadiness the minute they first appear on screen (Burnett has never been given the same credit as other filmmakers like Cronenberg & Verhoeven for his use of Michael Ironside in
The Glass Shield).
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| The Glass Shield |
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| Killer Of Sheep |
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| My Brother's Wedding |
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| To Sleep With Anger |
SHORT FILMS & EXPERIMENTATION
Along with the likes of Hal Hartley, Lynne Ramsay and a small handful of others, Charles Burnett is one of the few active filmmakers to still make short films before, during & after his rise to prominence…
RACE IN AMERICA & BEYOND...
I know a lot of folks expect filmmakers of color to explore racism, but Burnett runs the entire gambit from slavery (
Nightjohn), to Jim Crow-era segregation (
Selma Lord Selma) to modern day racism (
The Glass Shield) and even racial taboos concerning Black Men & White Women (S
everal Friends, Killer Of Sheep, Mulatto Saga, The Annihilation Of Fish)
