The Big Shave (Film Review)

If any of you reading this are not familiar with the name Martin Scorsese, stop what are you doing right now and indulge in some of the director's movies. They are genius. All of them. I am very much into Scorsese's works as you can tell, and being the weirdo that I am, I recently found an original clip online of the first film Scorsese ever directed, a short film known as "The Big Shave". It is roughly 6 minutes long, and it depicts a man shaving. The man continues to shave until his face is cut open and bleeding everywhere. The film was meant to be a commentary on the situation that was occurring with the US in Vietnam at the time (1968), as Scorsese felt that the US was only hurting themselves more and more. What's cool about this short piece is the visuals and all the different shots. The 1938 song "I Can't Get Started" by Bunny Berigan accompanies the work, and this also helps to enhance the experience, as the song is a fairly happy one. All in all, "The Big Shave" is a unique work of film art, with the bloody shots really leaving an imprint on one's mind. Maybe I find this short film so interesting just because it was the first piece by the one of the greatest ever, but it is still something cool to check out whether or not you're familiar with Scorsese (though being familiar with him definitely makes the whole thing much cooler), because it was commenting on something bigger happening at the time, and it's only 6 minutes long so you won't be wasting your time. 

-N.G.