Zéro de conduite: Jeunes diables au collège (1933)

Director:

Jean Vigo

Writer:

Jean Vigo (scenario)

Release Date:

21 June 1947 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Short | Drama

Plot:

The intolerable pressure of life at an unpleasantly seedy boys' boarding school leads to a full-scale revolution...

Plot Keywords:

School | Revolt | Hat | Gay Interest | Penis

Cast

Jean Dasté	...	Surveillant Huguet
Robert le Flon	...	Surveillant Pète-Sec
Du Verron	...	Surveillant-Général Bec-de-Gaz (as du Verron)
Delphin	...	Principal du Collège
Léon Larive	...	Professeur (as Larive)
Madame Émile	...	Mère Haricot (as Mme. Emile)
Louis de Gonzague	...	Préfet (as Louis de Gonzague-Frick)
Raphaël Diligent	...	Pompier (as Rafa Diligent)
Louis Lefebvre	...	Caussat
Gilbert Pruchon	...	Colin
Coco Golstein	...	Bruel
Gérard de Bédarieux	...	Tabard

Also Known As:

0 de conduite (France) (poster title)
Zéro de conduite: Jeunes diables au collège (France) (long title)

Runtime:

41 min

Country:

France

Language:

French

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Spain:T | Taiwan:GP | Finland:S | France:(Banned) (1933-1946) | France:U (re-rating) | South Korea:15 (DVD rating) (2004)

Filming Locations:

Gare de Belleville-Villette, Belleville, Paris 19, Paris, France

Company:

Franfilmdis

Trivia:

Banned by the French censor until well after World War II.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Le fantôme d'Henri Langlois (2004)

Disjointed but fascinating

Vigo's first (and penultimate) fiction feature is a precocious but messy work that serves notice of the huge talent he possesses while clearly showing that he is still a man learning his trade. The story as such tells of a revolt by schoolboys against their strict masters, but it wanders all over the place and appears either to have suffered at the hands of some inept editor's scissors, or to contain an abundance of nascent ideas that Vigo has chosen – or been forced – to put to screen before they were fully formed. It all makes for a fragmented and episodic structure that nevertheless somehow seems to add to the charm of the piece. Interspersed between these disjointed plot developments are some eerily surreal moments, such as when the midget headmaster straightens his tie in the mirror and his reflection moves away a second or two after him, which ensure that this film, while not the finished article, is never less than fascinating.