''The Big Shave'' is a 1967 six-minute

body horror Body horror or biological horror is a subgenre of horror that intentionally showcases grotesque or psychologically disturbing violations of the human body. These violations may manifest through aberrant sex, mutations, mutilation, zombification, ...

short film directed by

Martin Scorsese Martin Charles Scorsese ( , ; born November 17, 1942) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter and actor. Scorsese emerged as one of the major figures of the New Hollywood era. He is the recipient of List of awards and nominatio ...

. It is also known as ''Viet '67''.

Home media

In May 2020, it was made available on DVD/Blu-ray by

The Criterion Collection The Criterion Collection, Inc. (or simply Criterion) is an American home-video distribution company that focuses on licensing, restoring and distributing "important classic and contemporary films." Criterion serves film and media scholars, cinep ...

as part of a collection of his short films from the 60s and 70s.

Synopsis

Peter Bernuth stars as the recipient of the title shave, repeatedly shaving away

hair Hair is a protein filament that grows from follicles found in the dermis. Hair is one of the defining characteristics of mammals. The human body, apart from areas of glabrous skin, is covered in follicles which produce thick terminal and f ...

, then skin, in an increasingly bloody and graphic bathroom scene. Many

film critics Film criticism is the analysis and evaluation of films and the film medium. In general, film criticism can be divided into two categories: journalistic criticism that appears regularly in newspapers, magazines and other popular mass-media outlets ...

have interpreted the young man's process of self-mutilation as a

metaphor A metaphor is a figure of speech that, for rhetorical effect, directly refers to one thing by mentioning another. It may provide (or obscure) clarity or identify hidden similarities between two different ideas. Metaphors are often compared wit ...

for the self-destructive involvement of the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

in the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

, prompted by the film's alternative title.

Production

The music accompanying the film is

Bunny Berigan Roland Bernard "Bunny" Berigan (November 2, 1908 – June 2, 1942) was an American jazz trumpeter and bandleader who rose to fame during the swing era. His career and influence were shortened by alcoholism, and ended with his early demise at the ...

's "

I Can't Get Started "I Can't Get Started", also known as "I Can't Get Started with You" or "I Can't Get Started (with You)", is a popular song. It was written in 1936 by Vernon Duke (music) and Ira Gershwin (lyrics) and introduced that year in the film ''Ziegfeld Fol ...

". The film was produced at New York University's

Tisch School of the Arts The New York University Tisch School of the Arts (commonly referred to as Tisch) is the performing, cinematic and media arts school of New York University. Founded on August 17, 1965, Tisch is a training ground for artists, scholars of the a ...

, shot on Afga color film donated by

Palais des Beaux Arts The Centre for Fine Arts (french: Palais des Beaux-Arts, nl, Paleis voor Schone Kunsten) is a multi-purpose cultural venue in Brussels, Belgium. It is often referred to as BOZAR (a homophone of ''Beaux-arts'') in French or PSK in Dutch. The ...

. The short's use of violence, music and montage would become trademarks of Scorsese's future work.

Cultural references

*''

Cutting Moments ''Cutting Moments'' is a 1997 short film written, produced and directed by Douglas Buck, in cooperation with The New School. The film was re-released in August 2004 as part of Buck's suburban holocaust collection ''Family Portraits: A Trilogy of ...

'' (1997) has a scene which greatly resembles "The Big Shave". *''

American Dad! ''American Dad!'' is an American animated sitcom created by Seth MacFarlane, Mike Barker and Matt Weitzman for the Fox Broadcasting Company. Since 2014, the series has been airing new episodes on TBS. ''American Dad!'' is the first television ...

'': In " The Best Christmas Story Never", Stan travels back in time to 1970 and meets a young Martin Scorsese. When Stan tells the director that he's a big fan, Scorsese says, incredulously, "You saw my six minute film about a guy shaving?!" *

Dave Hause Dave Hause (born March 12, 1978) is an American singer-songwriter. He currently performs both solo and with his band The Mermaid. His music draws from heartland rock, folk rock and punk rock. He has also played in multiple Philadelphia, PA area ...

, singer of The Loved Ones, released a video for the song "Time Will Tell" from his debut solo album '' Resolutions'' that pays homage to "The Big Shave". *''PEARLIES'' A two-minute short horror film directed by Jonathan Gularte Ramirez starring as himself as he brushes his teeth in an increasingly bloody and graphic fashion. The short is directly inspired from "The Big Shave".

References

External links