I would watch with teh French subtitles just fine.

It's been so hard to watch them that some critics are treating Killer of Sheep as if it was a new release, thus eligible for inclusion in Top 10 lists.
That was going on last year too when they kept listing Melville's Army of Shadows as one of the year's best. It's an easy way to be becuase people are always more indulgent of older movies. It's rare that TimeOut New York fails to give a revival six stars, while they are cruel on newer stuff. Of course Killer of Sheep is remarkable, but it probably was not greeted with much enthusiasm originally.