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 | Boy | Revolt | Homosexuality | 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
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Georges Belmer	...	Un enfant (uncredited)
Georges Berger	...	Correspondent (uncredited)
Pierre Blanchar	...	Un surveillant (uncredited)
Maurice Cariel	...	Un enfant (uncredited)
Jean-Pierre Dumesnil	...	Un enfant (uncredited)
Michelle Fayard	...	La petite fille (uncredited)
Igor Goldfarb	...	Un enfant (uncredited)
Constantin Goldstein-Kehler	...	Bruel (uncredited)
Félix Labisse	...	Premier pompier (uncredited)
Lucien Lincks	...	Un enfant (uncredited)
Charles Michiels	...	Un enfant (uncredited)
Georges Patin	...	Fireman (uncredited)
Roger Porte	...	Un enfant (uncredited)
Jacques Poulin	...	Un enfant (uncredited)
Pierre Regnoux	...	Un enfant (uncredited)
Albert Riéra	...	Le vieillard (uncredited)
Ali Ronchy	...	Un enfant (uncredited)
Georges Rougette	...	Un enfant (uncredited)
Henri Storck	...	Priest (uncredited)
André Thille	...	Un enfant (uncredited)
Pierre Tridon	...	Un enfant (uncredited)
Georges Vakalo	...	Le 4e pompier (uncredited)
Paul Vilhem	...	Un enfant (uncredited)

Directed by
Jean Vigo

Writing credits
Jean Vigo		(scenario)

Produced by
Jacques-Louis Nounez	....	executive producer (uncredited)
Jean Vigo	....	producer (uncredited)

Original Music by
Maurice Jaubert

Cinematography by
Boris Kaufman

Film Editing by
Jean Vigo		(uncredited)

Art Direction by
Henri Storck		(uncredited)

Makeup Department
Massard	....	makeup artist (uncredited)

Production Management
Henri Storck	....	production supervisor (uncredited)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Pierre Merle	....	assistant director
Albert Riéra	....	assistant director
Henri Storck	....	assistant director

Sound Department
Bocquel	....	sound engineer
Royné	....	sound engineer

Camera and Electrical Department
Louis Berger	....	assistant camera

Production Companies

• Argui-Film

Distributors

• Franfilmdis (1931) (France) (theatrical) (as Comptoir Français de Distribution de Films - Franfilmdis)
• Cine Classics (1947) (USA) (theatrical) (subtitled)
• New Cinema Enterprises (1976) (Canada) (theatrical) (16 mm) (subtitled)
• New Cinema Enterprises (1976) (Canada) (theatrical) (subtitled)
• Timeless Video (1994) (USA) (VHS)
• Sherlock Home Video (2005) (Spain) (DVD)
• Pirkanmaan Elokuvakeskus (PEK) (2008) (Finland) (theatrical)
• Société des Etablissements L. Gaumont

Other Companies

• Hollywood Select Video  cover design

Also Known As:

Zéro de conduite (France) (short title)
Zero for Conduct (USA)
Betragen ungenügend (West Germany) [de]
C i uppförande (Sweden) [sv]
Cero en conducta (Spain) [es]
Diagogi miden (Greece) (festival title) [el]
Magatartásból elégtelen (Hungary) [hu]
Nolla käytöksessä (Finland) [fi]
Nul i opførsel (Denmark) (TV title) [da]
Pala ze sprawowania (Poland) [pl]
Zero in condotta (Italy) [it]

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:

Argui-Film

Trivia:

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

Movie Connections:

Featured in Le fantôme d'Henri Langlois (2004)

A flawed though no less worthy experience

This is an odd film, one that will certainly test the patience of many potential viewers given the sad fact that it is technically an unfinished work; standing at only 41 minutes in length and abruptly ending at the point when it was becoming most interesting. However, even in this currently truncated form there is no denying that director Jean Vigo was an incredibly talented young man; as this short sketch of a film and his lone masterpiece L'Atalante (1934) will attest. What impresses most about Zéro de conduit (1933) - which shouldn't work, but somehow does - is the juxtaposition and appropriation of a number of textural and thematic reference points that move from elements of bold farce and satirical comment, to the further elements of silent humour, surrealist symbolism and neo-realist observation. It's all tied together by the strong use of characterisation, the likable performances from these young and natural actors and the still somewhat exciting way in which the various references have all been woven seamlessly together.

Really though, it's simply a great little romp; with the free-spirited kids sowing the seeds of rebellion against the strict regime of tradition and conformity forced upon them by the teachers of a long-established French boarding school in such a way as to make for great satirical farce. In this respect, you can see it as an obvious influence on Lindsay Anderson's subversive masterpiece If... (1968) and indeed, certain elements of François Truffaut's classic, The 400 Blows (1959), with the school-based setting and the ideas of youthful rebellion being fairly iconic in the post 60's sense, and no doubt standing as fairly radical issues to be dramatised in the year 1934 (no wonder the film was banned by the censors until after the close of World War II). Regardless, the film is charming in a way that many films of this period often are, with the smart-alecky kids running rings around the stuffy lecturers in a no doubt fairly pointed metaphor for French cinema of this particular era (and of Vigo's potential to be something of a precursor to Jean-Luc Godard in terms of shaking up the establishment) before a last minute U-turn into more abstract territory with that iconic pillow-fight - and its dreamlike use of slow motion and accidental nudity - turns the whole thing on its head.

It's a real shame that the film isn't longer; giving us more room to get to know the characters and allowing the switch in tone to propel the drama into a more satisfying climax. As it stands, it is still a great piece of film-making, though one that will obviously be a somewhat infuriating experience for some. The experiments hinted at in the pillow fight sequences would seem to take a direct influence from Vigo's documentary film Taris, roi de l'eau (1931), while the more social-realist moments draw on his short-form travelogue À propos de Nice (1930), with all of these particular techniques and the influence found in Zéro de conduit itself later being blended into the brilliant L'Atalante. Unfortunately Vigo would subsequently die at the age of 29, denying the world of further films that may have contextualised Zéro de conduit beyond that of a short-form sketch. Still, as it stands today, over 70 years on, Vigo's film has lost none of its ability to charm, delight and confound the expectations of viewers; showing the hints of what a true talent he was and could have been, as well as offering a fairly worthy experience in its own right.