Believe the hype.

For 30 years, "Killer of Sheep" has been a legend in film circles, one of those movies that nearly every filmmaker, critic and serious cineaste has lionized but that next to no one has actually seen. Made by Charles Burnett as his MFA thesis film at UCLA in the 1970s, "Killer of Sheep" never got a theatrical release, despite being named by the Library of Congress as one of the first movies on its National Film Registry.

Over the years, "Killer of Sheep" has been shown occasionally in museums and at festivals, on a tattered 16-millimeter print. With a soundtrack dominated by classics from George Gershwin, Paul Robeson, Etta James and Dinah Washington, the music rights have made a wide release prohibitively expensive. Until now, when it can finally be seen in all its glory.

And what glory it is. Henry Gayle Sanders -- the only professional actor in the cast -- plays Stan, a slaughterhouse worker who, when we meet him, is suffering from insomnia, impotence and an overall sense of ennui. Married to a gorgeous, sympathetic wife (Kaycee Moore), with two cute kids, Stan is sleepwalking through his life in Los Angeles's working-class Watts neighborhood, hanging out with friends, trying to connect with his family, trying, perchance, to sleep.

"Killer of Sheep" is unlike any other American film of its time or any other. It has been compared to Vittorio De Sica's "Bicycle Thieves," and its spontaneous, intimate style certainly makes a nod to the Italian neorealists. But what makes "Killer of Sheep" great art is that it hews to no aesthetic or political party line, instead carving out its own path. Stan doesn't stick it to the Man or sweep his beautiful wife up in his arms as the music swells or hug his kids in a satisfying third-act climax. He just survives, managing a quick nap and a smile to indicate that he's going to be okay.

It's a testament to Burnett's talent that what on the surface looks so simple is in fact a densely layered, morally complex film operating on myriad levels. See "Killer of Sheep," and see it again and again. It's one of those truly rare movies that just get better and better.

-- Ann Hornaday (June 1, 2007)

Contains adult themes and sensuality.