Zéro de conduite: Jeunes diables au collège (1933)

User Rating:

7.7/10   

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)

Zero for Conduct is a pretty good film

Zero for Conduct is a pretty good film about children. So often in movies children act exactly as the director commands them to, so they always seem like they are just speaking lines without knowing why they are doing so. In a film like Zero for Conduct or, even better, Truffaut's The 400 Blows, the child actors are allowed to be children. The children in this film are very true to life, and thus there is great value in this film. Another merit this film has is a teacher who does Charlie Chaplin impressions, and is for this reason more popular with the students. The film does have a lot of problems, though, most of which are not the fault of Vigo, the director. I understand that the production was rushed and incomplete when the shooting was wrapped up. As a result of this, the editing is sloppy. The film is sort of difficult to follow. Plus, possibly its biggest flaw, it ends very abruptly. There is no resolution.