Little Big Man - "Little Big Expectations"

Little Big Man (1970)

K: I don't have a good sense of epic movies of the past. This movie felt like such an epic movie, but I don't know that it was received as one. I find it hard to believe that this movie isn't better recognized. This movie spans a large amount of time and that is it's selling point. It can introduce a bunch of characters, it can go through all these different time periods, and you see this character change. He takes on a lot of different role changes - he was a husband, a business owner, a drunk, a Cheyenne, a Christian. What did you think about that much time passing in a movie?

H: Sometimes when a movie covers a lot of time, it can feel like several movies smashed together. I'm thinking of Once Upon a Time in America (1984). There's a long bit where Deniro's character is a kid and there's a bit where he's an adult. The part where he's a kid is interesting, whereas the adult part of the movie kind of drags on. That movie feels inconsistent. This movie maintains energy through all of Dustin Hoffman's changes, right up to the present day, where he's a 111 year old man. This movie is all about what changes and what remains the same. You see the chief go through changes - getting injured, going blind, and preparing to die - but his personality doesn't change at all. This steadfastness of character while the native world is disintegrating in the face of American westward expansion. He shows us that even death is a superficial change, at least according to his beliefs.

K: This movie humanizes the Cheyenne roles. The chief is an actual character, a person, not a representation of a chief. He has a sense of humor, he makes mistakes. In his reading of dreams, he shares what he sees, which is what will happen in the future, but not what to do. It takes those Cheyenne roles and makes them characters, such as the guy who does everything backwards or the guy who chooses not to fight and to instead stay with the women. Compared to the chief, they're much more in the background.

H: I found the Cheyenne acceptance of transgendered people very enlightened and I'm surprised this movie dealt with the topic. Most westerns ignore the complexity of Native American cultures.

K: I didn't know the movie was smart because it did that, or if it was using that character for comedic value and therefore perpetuating a stereotype. I didn't know if I should laugh or not and I would feel bad laughing. But I laughed anyway.

H: We learn in this movie that the word "Cheyenne" in the Cheyenne language means "Human Being" or "Human Beings" and from then on, Jack Crabb (Dustin Hoffman) refers to them as "the human beings" instead of the Cheyenne. It brings home an important point this movie makes, that the Cheyenne are human beings and that, by and large, the white men are animals. We see lots of examples where white men are barbarians and the human beings are more cultured.

K: What do you think about the white characters - his sister, the religious woman (who becomes a prostitute), the doctor he sells medicine for, and his Norwegian wife? I found them all to be less interesting than the human beings.

H: What about Buffalo Bill? I liked him.

K: He was ok, but kind of boring too. Custer, on the other hand, I like the way he was portrayed. He was such a caricature of a war figure.

H: You mean the immaculate beard trimmings, the finality of his decisions, and his arrogance? Sometimes movies can really blow up when they try to portray real historical figures. This movie succeeds, maybe because I don't have a clear picture of what Custer looked like. Sometimes it's simply a matter of the movie likeness not being close enough to the popular image. Also, Custer was a real asshole (NSFW).

K: Crabb's life was really long, but you don't see the majority of his life. You see from age 6 to age 40, but he's 111 when he's retelling his life.

H: He's talking about the portion of his life that the interviewer is interested in. I really liked the way the story was framed. At the beginning, the interviewer smugly dubs Crabb as an Indian hunter. We find out that he lived with and admired the human beings, and even had a native wife and kid.

K: Four native wives ;)

H: The movie's tag line calls into question Crabb's story, calling it a tall tale. What are we to make of his story? Do you believe it? The interviewer is really incredulous at the start, but after Crabb tells his sad story, he apologizes and quickly leaves.

K: I think his story is true. He has no reason to lie about it.

H: So he caused Custer's death? I think he wants to believe that he got back at him.

K: He remembers it the way he wants to remember it. What did you think about the voice Hoffman gave to his character? It was kind of high pitched, distinct, and a little annoying.

H: I thought it was time and place appropriate.

K: It was so different than his normal voice. His normal voice is so east coast, so it sounded in this movie like he was putting it on. It was hard to accept it in the beginning but I got used to it.

H: I like the mythological aspects to this movie. Usually, they involved the chief, as in when he was preparing to die, or he escaped from Custer just by closing his eyes and becoming "invisible". It was practical magic, where there was probably a simple explanation but we preferred the magical explanation.

Was this movie too long for you?

K: I tell you it's the parts with the white people that get boring (story of my life). He meets the doctor selling the elixir twice!

H: This movie does have the Charles Dickens thing going on, where characters continuously recur without reason.

K: God bless us, every one.