The filming of "Little Big Man" through the insightful views of its director

A highly engaging and commendable making of directed and photographed by Elliott Erwitt, this special covering the filming of "Little Big Man" escapes from the usual routine of behind the scenes projects with cast and crew praising each other's work with some quick glipmses of a film set and some important sequence being filmed. Instead, it opts for a more open discussion about what director Arthur Penn intended to conceive with the western comedy/drama/adventure, his take on General Custer Last Stand, and there's moments of Mr. Penn directing the actors and also some moments with leading man Dustin Hoffman, either through interviews and the old age makeup test for his 100 year-old character.

The short alternates between the filming of battle sequences, with the director having some serious yelling moments and other times he's mimicking the same lines used by the actors while performing it (the man really knew the script and had a great time watching the actors playing), and there's Mr. Penn unique talks about what he intended to present with "Little Big Man", never a sense of rewritting history but trying to make his own version of the battles with the indians, aligned with some of the facts as they were told by historians. He's simply destroying myths, making some critical takes on how history is told from one generation through another, and how problematic that times don't change much throughout history - as he makes a quick observation on the then on-going Vietnam War. What's fact and what's fiction? Is there a way to find humor in that particular story? It's up to audiences to find out.

Hardly ever that type of making of special becomes a far too serious presentation, but this one gets there as Mr. Penn concludes his thoughts on history and the public perception of it (leaves you thinking afterwards). But I liked that, all of it. It's very absorbing, curious and fun to see his direction of actors, the large scale of shooting in Canada, and the humored bits were a plus (favorite moment was of an actress getting her lines wrong and the crowd just dies with laughter as she gets weirdly serious). A must-see special for film enthusiasts, knowing the film or not. 9/10.

The documentary is a form of non-fiction storytelling that aims to present factual information, insights, and perspectives on real-world subjects, events, issues, or people. Documentaries can cover a wide range of topics, including history, science, culture, social issues, nature, biographies, and more.

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The short form refers to creative works characterized by their brevity and concise storytelling. Unlike full-length feature films, short films have a running time of less than 45 minutes, while TV shorts have a running time of less than 22 minutes.

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Director Arthur Penn gets interviewed on the set of his film "Little Big Man". In between many behind the scenes moments and the filming of important sequences, he talks about his views on the story, and his challenges about the filming process.

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