…but for heaven’s sake be careful with that razor! Above, an image from Martin Scorsese’s grisly, pointed 1967 short The Big Shave, part of a mostly nifty disc of Scorsese shorts and docs only available in a French edition. Yes, it’s time for the Foreign Region DVD Report, at The Auteurs’.
Such a nice corrective to Ben Shapiro’s thick-skulled philippic. But that screen cap, while eye-catching, is giving me the shrieking blue fantods. Much as I worship Scorsese I hope that doesn’t stay up top too long.
I asked Criterion about Scorsese’s short films in 2008 and they said there was a disc coming out in 2009– which, as we know, has never materialized. I assume it would be some kind of rights issue, and like you, am curious if anyone has any details on what’s the what there.
When I was in high school in the late sixties, I was lucky enough to attend a film class conducted by Gordon Hitchens, the original editor of Film Comment (among many other credits). One day he brought a little film by the name of “The Big Shave” to show us. Not surprisingly, I never forgot it and years later, after Martin Scorsese had become Martin Scorsese, I found that he was the man who gave us that memorable film. And I can honestly thank Gordon Hitchens for making me a Scorsese fan long before I knew his name.
Mr Scorcese was on Conan last night in case you missed it:
http://www.tonightshowwithconanobrien.com/video/clips/martin-scorsese-pt1-011810/1194409/
I think that’s just the first part but really enjoyed the interview with him as well as his speech from the Golden Globes the previous night.