Tiny: A Story About Living Small (2014/First Run DVD)

Picture: C Sound: C Extras: A Documentary: B+

Imagine living in a home only a big as small RV or van. For the last half century, the American Dream Home has been bigger the better, but yet with the current economy and environment, some people have opted for a different way of living ...smaller. And now having tiny built houses on wheels no bigger than a parking space to bypass building codes and zoning laws! First Run Features a story on how people and their innovations can make this dream a reality.

Christopher Smith's Tiny: A Story About Living Small (2014) features some of the tiniest houses you will ever see. Hand built, these houses were designed to save space and become more efficient energy savers. The bathroom, shower and kitchen are all in the same room. The living room, dining room are all the same with different fold out chairs or tables with hidden shelves or compartments. While living like this it saves money, but leaves little space for material things. People who decide living with as little as possible, is more free than living with a lot of stuff. This program shows how a house like this is built with several other homes that people live in now.

This will also be interesting for those who are interesting in living in mobile homes/studios, while it can be see as like the ultimate traveling camping home, it is only for those with the constitution to live with as little as possible.

Running barely over an hour, the anamorphically enhanced 1.78 X 1 image and lossy Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo sound are average, but passable. We get many extras though, including interviews with filmmakers, behind the scenes, bonus scenes, shorts and trailers.

- Ricky Chiang