On episode 149 of the Director Watch Podcast, co-hosts Ryan McQuade and Jay Ledbetter discuss the first film in their Charles Burnett series, Killer of Sheep (1978).
Welcome back to Director Watch! On this AwardsWatch podcast, the boys attempt to breakdown, analyze, and ultimately, get inside the mind of some of cinema’s greatest auteurs. In doing so, they will look at their filmographies, explore what drives them artistically and what makes their decision making process so fascinating. Add in a few silly tangents and a fun game at the end of the episode and you’ve got yourself a podcast we truly hope you love.
Over the course of time, cinema of various time periods that was once considered lost is remastered, reborn, and reexamined as they reenter the public conscience. For the case of director Charles Burnett, this has been true as his films have been restored to their former glory on physical media over the last couple of years, thus giving the DW boys the opportunity to tackle a vital African-American voice who made films about the structure of family, the innocence of the youth within the black community, and finding the emotions with characters that deal with real life problems. With the case of his debut film, Killer of Sheep, Burnett examined the life of a weary slaughterhouse worker whose family life is slowly being tested every single day; it’s impressive debut, one that still resonates to this day. Ryan and Jay break down the film, its themes on family dynamics, the innocence of a child, the incorporation of Italian neorealism with the narrative, their favorite shots within the film, as well as a discussion as to who the best professional athlete is in the world right now.
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This podcast runs 1h19m. The guys will be back next week to continue their series on the films of Charles Burnett with a review of the film, To Sleep With Anger. You can rent it via iTunes and Amazon Prime rental in preparation for the next episode of Director Watch. Till then, let’s get into it.
Music: MUSICALIFE, from Pond5 (intro) and “B-3” from BoxCat Games Nameless: The Hackers RPG Soundtrack (outro).
