Press play when you start the movie. These notes follow along, minute by minute. Questions to think about are at the end.
He shot it on weekends in Watts in the early 1970s, for less than $10,000. It was his thesis film.
Source · IMDb triviaThese Black film students at UCLA, including Julie Dash and Haile Gerima, made films about Black life on their own terms.
Source · UCLA Film & Television Archive, L.A. RebellionBurnett let them play the way they really did, which is why these scenes feel so loose and real.
Source · Roger Ebert, Great Movies (2007)Burnett shot on the streets of Watts without permission from the city, with a small crew and a handheld camera.
Source · IMDb triviaBurnett used songs by Dinah Washington, Paul Robeson and Earth, Wind & Fire, but couldn't afford the rights. So the film couldn't be sold or shown widely.
Source · Roger Ebert, Great Movies (2007)Burnett cast neighbors and friends. Henry G. Sanders, who plays Stan, was one of the few trained actors.
Source · AFI CatalogHe ran into Henry G. Sanders in the building where he worked and asked him to do a screen test because he had such an unusual face.
Source · IMDb triviaHis first choice for Stan was in prison, and Burnett wanted to wait for his release. When UCLA told him to make the film anyway, he cast Sanders.
Source · IMDb triviaBurnett filmed in a real slaughterhouse. The sheep being led to their deaths mirror the way Stan feels trapped by his work.
Source · AFI CatalogHe chose songs from many eras and styles, from blues and spirituals to jazz and R&B. He kept a day job reading scripts while he made the film.
Source · IMDb triviaBurnett made the whole film this way for less than $10,000. The black-and-white images give it the feel of a family photo album.
Source · Associated Press (2025)That style used real streets and everyday people to show ordinary life. Here there are no big plot turns, just a string of small moments.
Source · IMDb triviaMany businesses and jobs never came back. You can see the empty lots and boarded buildings behind the kids.
Source · Philadelphia Inquirer (2007)They pool $15 for it, and then it falls off the back of the truck and cracks. Small hopes and small losses are the heart of the movie.
Source · AFI Catalog (synopsis)A still of a boy mid-jump, tinted red, is on the cover of Mos Def's 2009 album The Ecstatic.
Source · IMDb triviaIt's one of the most famous scenes in the film. Kaycee Moore plays Stan's wife.
Source · Roger Ebert, Great Movies (2007)The UCLA Film & Television Archive restored it, and the songs were cleared for about $150,000. The Library of Congress had already named it to the National Film Registry in 1990.
Source · Roger Ebert, Great Movies (2007) + IMDb triviaMilestone Films needed about $150,000 to clear the songs for the 2007 release, and Soderbergh gave $75,000 of it.
Source · AFI Catalog (and IMDb trivia)He reviewed it in 1977 and later called his own take wrong-headed. In 2007 he added it to his Great Movies list.
Source · Roger Ebert, Great Movies (also on IMDb trivia)Questions to think about on your own, or to talk through with whoever you watched with.
The kids make games out of whatever they find. What did play look like where you grew up?
Stan says he works himself into his own hell and can't find peace of mind. When has work taken more from you than it gave?
Not much happens in this movie, on purpose. What did you notice when the story slowed down?
Times are matched to the film's subtitles, so they may be off by a minute on some versions. Each note links to its source. Still images will come from the studio's press materials.