Product Details

• Actors: Catherine Scorsese, Charles Scorsese
• Directors: Martin Scorsese
• Format: Color, NTSC
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Homevision
• VHS Release Date: June 6, 2000
• Run Time: 41 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6302969719
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #267,778 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

The Big Shave A young man nicks himself shaving, and a frightening religious experience suddenly develops. The Big Shave features Scorsese's black humor at an early age, highlighting his bizarre obsessions with religion, suffering, and blood. Digitally remastered from Scorsese's personal 16mm composite prints. "An allegory for America's involvement in Vietnam." THE BOSTON HERALD Italianamerican Join Martin Scorsese in his most daring feat yet--sitting down for dinner with his parents! Shot on location in his parents' Little Italy apartment among plastic sofa covers, fancy picture frames, and assorted lamps and figurines, Italianamerican is a funny look at one family's ancestry, their arrival in America, and the successes that followed. "Funny and touching." THE VILLAGE VOICE

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars That's Italian!, November 30, 1999

By 

D. Davis (Southern CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: ItalianAmerican and The Big Shave [VHS] (VHS Tape)

If you grew up around Italian Americans, then you'll certainly feel right at home with the Scorseses. This is not a documentary for Protestants or Swedes. Catherine Scorsese (Katie), Marty's mama, is a hoot. Just like every Italian American mother you've ever met--couches covered in plastic, heavy wall fixtures, sleeveless house dress, and wisecracking all the way through. We see her preparing the sauce (the gravy) with the information of cooking tidbits her mother-in-law gave her (the recipe for the sauce is at the end, so don't turn the video off too early). A more than ample addition to this video (which I show to my university students in an attempt to get them thinking about heritage and the power of storytelling) is the cookbook by the same name: ItalianAmerican, by Catherine Scorsese, with Georgia Downard (available through Amazon.com). The sound quality on this 1974 documentary is not the best, so you must pay attention, and you'll probably need to sit through it more than once. But it's worth it, as the Scorseses reminisce about the old country and the family and what life was like in New York's Little Italy many years ago. The video starts out with Catherine telling her son how he should be directing the documentary--pure hilarity. We also see a minor squabble between husband and wife--Catherine and Charlie. Of course Katie wins. It makes you feel right at home. You know, part of the family. Pull up a chair. Have some macaroni with sauce. And be part of the family. Abondanza!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars As natural and honest as you're likely to get, April 19, 2006

By 

Sambson (North Carolina) - See all my reviews

This review is from: ItalianAmerican and The Big Shave [VHS] (VHS Tape)

Four and a half stars actually. A documentary classic for sure, from one of America's most important filmmakers. The choice to interview his own parents pays off big time, as they're willing to get much more personal with Martin than they would with a stranger. The interaction between mother and father in front of the son, who's already a longtime participant in their relationship, and who they're already accustomed to pointing cameras at things, is as natural and honest as you're likely to get. The recipe, the stories, the threat on the cameraman's life: Classic. Of Scorsese's shorts, only American Boy with Freddy Prince gets a higher rating from me; and why is that not part of one of these DVD boxed sets? Release it already, what are'ya waitin for!?!

4 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Orginal, Early Scorsese shorts., April 25, 1999

By 

[e-mail] (Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: ItalianAmerican and The Big Shave [VHS] (VHS Tape)

The big shave was a short flim Scorsese made for his flim class in NYU. A Man shaves his face off with a razor. Bizarre, Yet Interesting.

Italianamerican is a Short flim/Non-Fiction Bio about his lovley Mother(Who has been in more then a few Scorsese movies) and Father, Who immagrated from Italy to the big apple and had a hard "working-class" life. Easy to relate too. Mama Scorsese reminds me of my mother.