Bless Their Little Hearts is a 1984 film directed by Billy Woodberry and written by Charles Burnett.
It's a tale of poor black people in the Watts district of Los Angeles. Charlie Banks, his wife Andais, and their three children live in a dilapidated bungalow filled with ratty furniture. Charlie can't find steady work. He goes to the unemployment office in Watts, but all he can manage to find are day-laborer jobs like threshing a field of wheat or painting a graffiti-splattered house. Charlie feels deep shame at his inability to provide for his children. In one scene, Andais gives him change from her purse, so he can turn around and give it to the kids for Sunday School, so that they will still look at him as the provider. Finally, Charlie's despair drives him into the arms of another woman, which threatens to destroy his marriage.
Writer Charles Burnett also wrote and directed another very similar Deliberately Monochrome movie about life in Watts, Killer of Sheep.
Tropes:
- Affectionate Gesture to the Head: Charlie's affection for his children is demonstrated when he ruffles his son's hair upon getting home from the unemployment office.
- Deliberately Monochrome: Shot in black-and-white, which gives the movie that independent
No Budget look, but also fits the mood of despair. - Kitchen Sink Drama: Poverty and unemployment drives a man to despair and adultery. Literally a kitchen sink drama, as the big set piece in the film, when Andais confronts Charlie about his cheating, takes place in the cramped kitchen.
- Manly Tears: After his older daughter broke her arm offscreen—apparently a malfunctioning garage door struck her—Charlie apologizes to her for them living in a rough neighborhood. He breaks down sobbing as he apologizes for not being able to provide a better life for his family.
- The Mistress: Rose becomes Charlie's mistress. But she's not content to stay that way, and when Charlie refuses to leave his own family and come be the man in her house, she dumps him.
- No Ending: Nothing's really resolved at the end; Charlie's still married and still unemployed. The film ends with a depressed Charlie walking away as his buddies hawk their catch of fish by the side of the road.
- Off-into-the-Distance Ending: Charlie goes fishing with his buddies. His buddies then try to make a little money by selling their catch (mostly catfish, it seems) on the side of the road. Charlie regards them with despair for a little while, then walks away. The End.
- Old Flame: Rose, an old girlfriend from long ago that Charlie runs into at the laundromat.
- Perfumigation: Played for drama. The smell of Rose's perfume on Charlie's shirt is what provokes Andais into confronting him about the affair.
- The Oner: Many long takes. Charlie and Andais's violent argument, when she confronts him about his affair, is a single ten-minute take.
- Silence Is Golden: The first seven minutes or so of the film have no dialogue, but the viewer still learns that 1) Charlie is unemployed and looking for work, 2) he lives in a pretty run-down neighborhood, 3) his home is also run-down and ratty, and 4) he's an affectionate father.
- Starbucks Skin Scale: Discussed Trope, as Charlie's buddies have an aimless conversation in which one of them insists that he's lighter-skinned than everyone else.
