1. A2 FILM STUDIES – FM4 – Popular Film & Emotional Responses
‘THE BIG SHAVE’ - Analysis
Fading in from white, Scorsese begins his film by
presenting us with several shots of various
appliances and objects situated in and around a
common family bathroom, such as water faucets, a
sink, a shower head, etc. These shots are edited
together in time with Bunny Berigan’s seminal jazz
hit “I Can’t Get Started (With You).” This song,
which is grand, booming and grandiose in its’
nature, serves almost as a stark contrast to the
boring, bland and banal images which we are
seeing. The music and the visuals simply do not
match. There is strangeness and oddness here.
Scorsese, through the use of the visuals and the
music, could be inferring that something bizarre is
about to unfold.
The music then builds in tempo as we see a young
man, dressed in a white vest, enter the bathroom.
He is shown to be yawning and scratching his hair.
Scorsese, through establishing this unnamed
character, along with the images of the bathroom, may be trying to establish
verisimilitude and to give the events depicted as realistic and random a sense as
possible.
The young man is then shown taking off his vest. This action is repeated three times,
each time from a different angle. This use of repetition may be Scorsese attempting to
draw our attention, and trying to imply that the taking off of the vest is key, and that
something is going to happen as a result of this (perhaps the big shave of the title?)
The young man is then shown applying shaving foam. This action is presented through
use of regular cuts and shots, with no emphasis being given by Scorsese. It could be
interpreted as Scorsese wanting to maintain the sense of verisimilitude he has so far
established, and that this is just a random, boring occurrence which happens every
morning.
Scorsese then presents us with close ups of the specific parts of the young man’s face
which he is shaving, for instance his cheeks or his chin. There are also cutaways to the
young man putting the razor underneath the tap to clean it off. This is done with
emphasis, as it is also edited in time with Berigan’s music. Scorsese, possibly, is
attempting to draw us into what he is doing, and possibly give us a clue as to the
consequence of his actions.
We then cut to an extreme close up of the young man looking into a mirror. Only the top
half of his face is seen. We can see that he is moving about and possibly touching his
face, but we do not know why. We then see he is applying more shaving cream. The
desired effect here may be to create confusion – we cannot comprehend why anyone

2. A2 FILM STUDIES – FM4 – Popular Film & Emotional Responses
would want to shave straight after they just have done. This starts becoming more and
more confusing and surreal and the music itself, by just being included in the film
becomes more and more unnerving.
We are then presented with more close ups of the specific parts of his face that he is
shaving. When he reaches his moustache, the camera pulls back and we see a very thick
and long line of blood on the right side of his face, underneath his ear. By Scorsese
employing this “big reveal,” he may be trying to set the wheels in motion and imply that
the big shave of the title is about to be seen.
We are then presented with a close up of the young man's face in profile followed by a
pull back which reveals more bloody nicks and cuts. His face appears almost to be
overcome with these cuts, and that the red of the blood is slowly replacing the white of
the shaving foam (perhaps Scorsese trying to convey the idea of purity verses violence,
a theme prevalent throughout his entire body of work?)
The idea of purity versus violence is emphasised by continuous cutaways to the sink over
which the young man stands. The pristine white of the sink is slowly beset with a flood of
scarlet red blood. This unnerves us. The viewers cannot understand why he is doing this
to himself. The violence, the infliction of pain upon himself is mindless and senseless. We
cannot, as viewers, possibly comprehend why he is doing this to himself, but maybe it is
in the meaninglessness and the pointlessness of the violence where the meaning and the
point of what Scorsese is presenting to us can be located.
With the onslaught of violence and self-harm seen throughout the course of the film, it
could be argued that Scorsese, by building verisimilitude, through the bland, boring,
pristine white bathroom and the young man going about his (seemingly) daily routine is,
as the film goes on, and as more blood is spilt, he seeks to destroy it. Perhaps Scorsese
wished to blindside us - we could not expect this to happen, and so when it does, it is all
the more shocking.
The film ends with the young man running the blade of the razor against the neck,
essentially slitting his throat. This happens at a point where both the music and the
violence on screen reaches its' crescendo. Scorsese could have used the music for a
number of reasons. A) as a framing device - the film starts and ends exactly when the
song does, and so the events seen in the film, the way they are edited, and the way they
are presented, are almost constructed using the song as a guideline. B) as a way of
establishing black humour. The nature of the song, verses the nature of what is seen on
screen, complement each other in such a way that it, rather than making us enjoy the
piece, it makes us recoil in disgust, and the song could have been used by Scorsese to
make the impact of the piece all the more shocking.