Charles Burnett’s 1990 masterpiece, a family drama suffused with magical realism.
A slow-burning masterwork of the early 1990s, this third feature by Charles Burnett (Killer of Sheep) is a singular piece of American mythmaking.
In a towering performance, Danny Glover (The Color Purple) plays the enigmatic southern drifter Harry, a devilish charmer who turns up out of the blue on the South Central Los Angeles doorstep of his old friends. In short order, Harry’s presence turns a seemingly peaceful household upside down, exposing smouldering tensions between parents and children, tradition and change, virtue and temptation.
Interweaving evocative strains of gospel and blues with rich, poetic-realist images, To Sleep with Anger is a sublimely stirring film from an autonomous artistic sensibility, a portrait of family resilience steeped in the traditions of black mysticism and folklore.
Extras
New, restored 4K digital transfer, approved by director Charles Burnett, with 2.0 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack
New interview programme featuring Burnett, actors Danny Glover and Sheryl Lee Ralph, and associate producer Linda Koulisis
A Walk with Charles Burnett, a new hour-long conversation between Burnett and filmmaker Robert Townsend that revisits Burnett’s films and shooting locations
Short video tribute to Burnett produced for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ Governors Awards ceremony in 2017
