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Released by: Severin Films
Released on: October 25th, 2016.
Director: Sheldon Renan
Cast: Chuck Riley, Ed Dorris, Thomas Noguchi
Year: 1982
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The Movie:
America changed in a big way on November 22, 1963. When John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, many say that the so-called 'American Dream' died with him that day. Whether that's true or not is debatable but the homicide rate, gun related deaths in particular, has risen since the early sixties. The Killing Of America takes a look at some of the more notable examples of gun related deaths to hit the news from the sixties through to the time of the films completion in the early eighties.
What this notorious Japanese/American co-production does, is take a clinical and historical look at some famous and not so famous crimes through the use of news clips and archival footage. The stoic narration over top provides the historical and social context through the use of statistics and background information on the footage provided. This raises the film from what is essentially a compilation of crime and death footage clips into a cohesive package that does more than just shock the viewer - it makes you think.
Contrasting footage of little boys playing with toy guns against JFK and Ronald Reagan being shot in front of the entire country makes for an interesting and enigmatic statement. Of course, parallels can be drawn to Michael Moore's Bowling For Columbine, but this film relies not on clever pranks and humor to relay its message, but harsh, shocking, and sometimes very difficult to watch real life footage of what guns can do when in the wrong hands. Interesting then that the film's un-credited co-director Leonard Schrader (who claims Renan's work was unusable and that he reedited almost the entire film himself) grew up in Flint Michigan, just like Michael Moore, and also around guns in a family that went hunting regularly.
The onslaught of depressing statistics that opens the film is quickly punctuated by the aforementioned footage of the attempt on Reagan's life. The JFK footage is included, followed by the always-moving image of his son saluting at his funeral. Charles Manson and Jim Jones make appearances as well, as do a few lesser-known sociopath types from the news. Horrifying images of race riots, protests, court room footage of Ted Bundy and news footage of university sniper attacks make for a film that is hard to watch, and at the same time, hard to forget.
The film closes on a positive note, at least in a sense. The footage of a vigil held for John Lennon, himself an advocate for peace, shows how many people his work and his music touched. Even if you're not a fan, seeing the kind of huge response elicited in his fans is quite impressive and touching. At the same time, this footage seems out of place with the rest of the film. According to Schrader in an interview given to British newspaper The Independent in June of 2000, the financial backers strong-armed him into ending the film on a more upbeat note. Not only does this ending feel forced, but it also dates the film considerably. As Lennon's assassination was fresh at the time this film was made it probably had more impact then than it does now.
The biggest flaw that the film has is that it doesn't really give any consideration into why firearms are such a huge part of American culture. At least Moore's film, while far from perfect itself, made an attempt to look at the reasons behind the existence of gun culture. The Killing Of America doesn't even attempt anything like this, it simply lets its shocking footage do most of the talking. While this makes for a powerful experience, and a morbidly fascinating one, it also leaves the film feeling only half finished.
The film, despite being made by American filmmakers with Japanese money, has never had a proper release in the United States until this release from Severin Films. Because of that, US viewers have only ever seen it via poor quality bootlegs, sometimes censored, oft times horrid in quality. Some years ago there was a DVD release from British-based distributors Exploited that was fully uncut but devoid of anything in the way of substantial extras. All of that changes with Severin's release, which is pretty much the definitive work on this still controversial and challenging film.
Video/Audio/Extras:
Severin presents the film in an AVC encoded 1080p high definition transfer transferred from the film's original negative. The results are pretty solid, though you'll obviously notice some unavoidable shifts in picture quality whenever the movie changes from one insert to another. Some of the footage is crystal clear, some of it is not but the 35mm material used for the footage that was shot specifically for this picture is in really good shape and shows strong detail and good color reproduction.
The English language 2.0 LPCM Mono tracks sounds just fine, offering up clear dialogue without any noticeable background hiss or noise. The levels are well balanced, the scores sound good and there are no problems here to complain about. There are no alternate language options although English subtitles are provided - but again, there are some shifts whenever the inserts are used.
The coolest extra on this disc is the inclusion of the Japanese version of the movie under the alternate title of Violence U.S.A.. This version runs just four minutes shy of full two hours and it's quite a different animal. The whole thing is narrated in Japanese (you're given the option of English subtitles) which makes it almost surreal at times, but it actually expands on some of the themes that aren't as fully fleshed out in the American cut of the movie. This makes for a more balanced and though provoking picture in some ways. At the same time, some of the nasty 'real death' footage is given a stronger focus here. Opinions will obviously vary as to which is the better cut of the movie but including this alternate version here is a definite plus for this release. Violence U.S.A. is also presented in AVC encoded 1080p high definition with LPCM format lossless audio.
Over the American version of the movie, we're treated to an optional audio commentary with director Sheldon Renan that is absolutely worth listening to. While he basically dodges the politics of the film, he delivers a fascinating look back at what was involved with making this still controversial picture. There was a lot of digging and wrangling that went into acquiring the various film sources that are used in this picture, so we learn all about that and the difficulties involved in that side of the production, but so too do we get to learn about the footage shot specifically for this movie. There's a lot of great technical detail in here and some really interesting historical discussion pertaining to how and why this movie exists in the first place - if you're even remotely curious about this picture, take the time to listen to this track, it's fascinating stuff.
Severin has also included a few interviews on the disc, the first of which is with Renan and runs about twenty minutes in length. While he might have dodged the political side of the project in the commentary, here he jumps right in offering up his opinions on how and why gun culture seems to permanently ingrained in American culture and its effects on society. He also talks about the film's production history and offers up some interesting anecdotes about some of the people that he worked with on the picture. The film's editor, Lee Percy, gets in front of the camera for a sixteen minute talk about what was involved in cutting this picture. He talks about how he got the job, some of his experience in the editing room before and after working on this picture, and how the JFK assassination featured in the film plays such a huge role in the film. Mondo Movie historian Nick Pinkerton gives us fifteen minutes worth of insight into the evolution of the mondo film and its place in cinema history as well as some thoughts on what makes this particular entry in the cannon so unique and interesting. There's also footage here of a Q&A session that he did with Renan after a screening of the film.
Rounding out the extras on the disc are the film's original theatrical trailer, menus and chapter selection.
The Final Word:
The Killing Of America is a poignant and morbidly fascinating documentary that takes a cold look at the violence that continues to plague our society and how the accessibility of firearms comes into play. It's a film that has lost none of its power to shock nor any of its power to make you think. Severin Films have done a damn fine job bringing this to Blu-ray in two variations and with loads of extras. The subject matter won't be for everyone but if you're even slightly interested in the material, don't miss this one.
Click on the images below for full sized Blu-ray screen caps!
