The Big Shave

The Big Shave is a 1967 six-minute short film directed by Martin Scorsese. It is also known as Viet '67.

Peter Bernuth stars as the recipient of the title shave, repeatedly shaving away hair, then skin, in an increasingly bloody and graphic bathroom scene. Many film critics have interpreted the young man's process of self-mutilation as a metaphor for the self-destructive involvement of the United States in the Vietnam War, prompted by the film's alternative title. The music accompanying the film is Bunny Berigan's "I Can't Get Started", recorded in 1939. The film was produced at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts for a film production class called Sight & Sound Film.

Cultural references

• American Dad!: 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 short about a guy shaving?!"
• Dave Hause, singer of The Loved Ones released a video for the song "Time Will Tell" from his debut solo album Resolutions which pays homage to The Big Shave.

External links

• The Big Shave at the Internet Movie Database
• You can watch the film here