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

Home media

In May 2020, it was made available on DVD/Blu-ray by The Criterion Collection 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, then skin, in an increasingly bloody and graphic bathroom scene. Prompted by the film's alternative title, 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.

Production

The music accompanying the film is Bunny Berigan's "I Can't Get Started". The film was produced at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts, shot on Agfa color film donated by Palais des Beaux Arts. The short's use of violence, music and montage would become trademarks of Scorsese's future work.

Cultural references