Zero for Conduct (1933)

Original title

Zéro de conduite : Jeunes diables au collège

Directed by

Jean Vigo

Genre

drama film, comedy film, autobiographical film

Country

France

Runtime

44 min

Rated

NR

Rating

6.9 of 10 from 264 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

Schoolboys in a repressive boarding school rebel against their strict teachers and the dull daily routine. Their mischief and small acts of defiance build into a chaotic celebration.

rebelliousanarchicplayfulsurrealoppressivedefiantwhimsicalsubversive

What happens

Zero for Conduct (French: Zéro de conduite) is a 1933 French featurette directed by Jean Vigo. It was first shown on 7 April 1933 and was subsequently banned in France until November 1945. The film draws extensively on Vigo's boarding school experiences to depict a repressive and bureaucratised educational establishment in which surreal acts of rebellion occur, reflecting Vigo's anarchist view of childhood. The title refers to a mark the boys would get which prevented them from going out on Sundays. Though the film was not an immediate success with audiences, it has proven to be enduringly influential. François Truffaut paid homage to Zero for Conduct in his film The 400 Blows (1959). The anarchic classroom and recess scenes in Truffaut's film borrow from Vigo's film, as does a classic scene in which a mischievous group of schoolboys are led through the streets by one of their schoolmasters. Director Lindsay Anderson has acknowledged that his own film If.... (1968) was inspired by Zero for Conduct. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

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