To Sleep with Anger brought Charles Burnett's unique talents to the fore,but his earlier independent features, Killer of Sheep and My Brother'sWedding, already intuited that popular film's offbeat but right-on andresonant observations on black family life. Set in the Watts area of LosAngeles, Killer of Sheep focuses on the personal isolation of a blackslaughterhouse worker who must suspend his emotions to continue in a jobhe finds repugnant, and then finds he has little sensitivity left forthe family he works so hard to support. Using semi-documentarytechniques and eliciting remarkable performances from a cast ofnon-professional actors, Burnett creates a palpable sense of place,linking the struggle of his protagonist with that of the Wattscommunity. Despite the slaughter of animals and egos it depicts, Killerof Sheep is not a depressing film; rather, it is infused with the humorand resilience that survival necessitates. Killer of Sheep was selectedfor the National Film Registry.