Why you should watch The Killing of America, a documentary gem from the early 1980s.
The latest in series of writers recommending underseen films highlights a sensationalist yet effective documentary from the early 80s
The first thing we’re met with are title cards informing us: “All of the film you are about to see is real. Nothing has been staged.”
This is immediately followed by shaky handheld footage of armed police officers surrounding a stoic black man decked out in a sharp brown suit and deep black shades, leaning casually against a storefront wall on a public street in broad daylight and brandishing a pistol. They order him to drop the gun. He doesn’t. They unload their weapons. He drops with the gun.