Good question.
I think that the film and its book should be compared and contrasted to discuss which one does what better. However, if all you do is cite the novel or even a history book to say what happens in it, then you aren't really comparing it to the film. In truth, no one has to watch Little Big Man to discuss the novel or what history books say at all. It's completely irrelevant to the film experience. Besides that, the intent of the book and the film could be completely different.
I know that the novel (published in 1964) is full of absurdist humor and was allegedly written as a reaction to all the various people who seemed to pop out of the wordwork to claim to be or know outlaws such as Billy the Kid and Butch Cassidy in the 1950s. Jack Crabb was supposed to be one such person, or at least that was Berger's jumping off point. In the movie, the brutality which runs throughout, especially that perpetuated by the whites, is used as a metaphor for the Vietnam War, not just the genocide of the Native Americans. I have heard this come out of director Arthur Penn's mouth on TCM so if you don't believe it or don't see it in the film, then good for you, but I can certainly see it.
I think that the film and its book should be compared and contrasted to discuss which one does what better. However, if all you do is cite the novel or even a history book to say what happens in it, then you aren't really comparing it to the film. In truth, no one has to watch Little Big Man to discuss the novel or what history books say at all. It's completely irrelevant to the film experience. Besides that, the intent of the book and the film could be completely different.
I know that the novel (published in 1964) is full of absurdist humor and was allegedly written as a reaction to all the various people who seemed to pop out of the wordwork to claim to be or know outlaws such as Billy the Kid and Butch Cassidy in the 1950s. Jack Crabb was supposed to be one such person, or at least that was Berger's jumping off point. In the movie, the brutality which runs throughout, especially that perpetuated by the whites, is used as a metaphor for the Vietnam War, not just the genocide of the Native Americans. I have heard this come out of director Arthur Penn's mouth on TCM so if you don't believe it or don't see it in the film, then good for you, but I can certainly see it.
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It's what you learn after you know it all that counts. - John Wooden
My IMDb page
It's what you learn after you know it all that counts. - John Wooden
My IMDb page