Tiny: A Story About Living Small

When it comes to making a home, the predominant line of thinking is that bigger is better; however the small house movement is putting that notion to the test. Across America in the post Global Financial Crisis fiscal climate, thousands of people are rejecting the penchant for upsizing that predictably defines the nation. Their comfort and contentment emanates from more restricted confines, as illustrated in Tiny: A Story About Living Small.

As a child, Christopher Smith wanted to have his own cabin in the mountains, and as he grew and inhabited more than 20 houses over his increasing years, nothing could replicate or match this youthful idyll. His quest to build a small place to call his own wasn’t just borne of adolescent fantasies and an inability to feel settled, but was propelled by the dream of finding his ideal existence. What kind of a life he wanted to build for himself, and what he wanted the next 30 years and beyond of his time alive to be like, drove a year of saving and striving, both at his regular job and in erecting his humble abode.

It is in his footsteps that the similarly concise documentary follows, charting Christopher’s efforts to fulfil his tiny-living wish with little money, no trace of construction experience, and without even a blueprint to get things started. Expectedly, the film chronicles a journey of discovery that sees him firm in his motivations, while his girlfriend, Merete Mueller, also takes inspiration to follow her own separate passions. Those around him may not be as understanding of his path away from the mortgage, marriage and materialism elements of the stereotypical American dream, or as accepting of his rejection of the pervading culture of commercialisation and rampant consumerism that now marks the fundamentals of something as simple as shelter, but he soldiers on.

Making their own film of their predicament, co-directors Smith and Mueller are endearing and earnest in their intentions and endeavours, yet perhaps even more interesting is the broader treatment of the topic they deftly edit into the mix. Affection radiates through the visuals of the central house becoming a reality, as intercut with picturesque images of the landscape that will soon form its backyard, but these feelings of hope and affinity may not have had the same impact without their placement within a broader context. Discussions with experts in the area expand on efficiency and economy, while those who have made the same leap speak of affordability and happiness. Most potent are the occupiers of miniature residences walking the camera through their condensed nooks and crannies, as strong in their pride as they are in the peaceful demeanour.

Of course, Tiny: A Story About Living Small has the feeling of cherished memories given its inherent intimacy and engrained structure, which is cosily by design in an effort sparked from something ever-so insular. The film is a small slice of life that taps into something larger, in the same manner of its subject. From beginning to end, this is a documentary that thinks little and dreams bigger.