The Big Shave

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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.

[edit] 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?!"

v • d • e Films directed by Martin Scorsese

1960s	What's a Nice Girl Like You Doing in a Place Like This? (1963) • It's Not Just You, Murray! (1964) • The Big Shave (1967) • Who's That Knocking at My Door (1967)

1970s	Street Scenes (1970) • Boxcar Bertha (1972) • Mean Streets (1973) • Italianamerican (1974) • Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore (1974) • Taxi Driver (1976) • New York, New York (1977) • American Boy: A Profile of Steven Prince (1978) • The Last Waltz (1978)

1980s	Raging Bull (1980) • The King of Comedy (1983) • After Hours (1985) • The Color of Money (1986) • The Last Temptation of Christ (1988) • New York Stories (1989)

1990s	Goodfellas (1990) • Cape Fear (1991) • The Age of Innocence (1993) • Casino (1995) • A Personal Journey with Martin Scorsese Through American Movies (1995) • Kundun (1997) • My Voyage to Italy (1999) • Bringing Out the Dead (1999)

2000s	Gangs of New York (2002) • The Blues (2003) • The Aviator (2004) • No Direction Home (2005) • The Departed (2006) • Shine a Light (2008) • Ashecliffe (2009)

Produced	You Can Count on Me (2000) • Nyfes (2004) • The Young Victoria (2008)