I just think Scorsese made it because he likes blood.
I've watched this several times, much of this time trying to figure out how or why it stands for Vietnam, but none of it fits together.
Its not. Scorsese was *beep* with people.
shareI agree, i watched it 3 times, theres no metaphor for the war, at most it says something about compulsiveness but i think the war thing is just something film buffs like to say just to sound smart. they also want to kiss martins a$$. its a interesting short film but i think all the pretentious crap people throw at it doesnt make sense
shareIt has nothing to do with Vietnam, it's an allusion to the importance of image and the consumist tendencies of American society.
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I saw it as that war kept throwing people into the war who were just getting killed. They just kept repeating this (the shaving) but more and more people were getting killed (the blood), and the leaders (the man shaving) didn't seem to care.
I can't really explain it. But that's what I think
Richard J Moir
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It’s a comment on Vietnam and America's continual effort to get involved ignoring the needless bloodshed that they were causing.
Proof: - 1) He made the film at the height of the conflict.
2) One of the alternative titles is 'Viet '67'
3) He was openly opposed to the war.
The question isn't why it stands for Vietnam but why Scorsese has turned further and further away from political/ important message films as he has been integrated into main stream Hollywood. ‘Taxi driver’ is a great analysis of American culture etc but he seems to be giving up on these creative roots as time goes on. He may now of sunken to his lowest depths, 'The Departed' his most recent success is a straight remake of an great Hong Kong film released only 4 years before called 'Mou gaan dou' or 'Infernal affairs'. Is it just me that thinks that the moment a great director jumps on the "lets remake an Asian film" bandwagon they have truly sunk to their lowest depths. Surely it's about time Hollywood began to come up with its own ideas again. We miss you Scorsese.... come back from the dark side.
Also apparently The Big Shave was originally conceived for the weeklong anti-Vietnam protest "The Angry Arts Against the War."
shareThe only way I could interpret it as a metaphor for Vietnam was that maybe the main character got used to seeing blood and guts and gore in the war (or got desensitized to it all) that when he was causing major injury to himself giving himself "the big shave," he was so "numb" it was really no big deal to him.
...other than that I have no idea.
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I thought that it meant that the war was getting worse and worse with no end in sight at the time.
shareMaybe the shaving is symbolism for something that solves problems. You shave to prevent a beard from growing, and there's usually no bloodshed involved because it's a normal practice for most people. Solving political differences should be similar, and be solved in a more humane and logical way, not through causing unnecessary bloodshed. And the man shaving doesn't seem to be bothered by it because that represents leaders' obliviousness to the destruction of war.
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