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

  (Complete credited 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)

Magical slice of surrealism which was very ahead of its time

"Zero For Conduct" is one of the great Jean Vigo's few films. After this and the masterpiece "L'Atalante", he died of tuberculosis at age twenty-nine. This is a shame, because had he lived, he surely would be as highly regarded as either Fellini or Bunuel. "Zero For Conduct" in particular is a magical film. It manages to tell an engaging storyline with many nice moments of dreamlike surrealism in a manner that brings to mind Jean Cocteau. It was also very ahead of its time. The naturalistic camera-work, settings, and performers bring to mind the French New Wave and the films of Truffant, and the story is very similar to "If...". Despite being only forty minutes, its a captivating and unique film the whole way through.

The movie unfortunately falls slightly short of masterpiece status for reasons that were probably out of Vigo's control. He was working under a very tight shooting schedule, and the rushed nature shows in the final product. The resolution in particular is rather unsatisfying and very abrupt. Still, there's so much visual beauty on display here that those minor defects become largely irrelevant. This is one of those films which the negative aspects are quickly forgotten and the qualities are what resonate. Add to that a perfect cast (its rare when the kids in a movie seem the right age for their characters), and you have a marvelous little film. (9/10)