Directed by:
Jean VigoScreenplay:
Jean VigoCinematography:
Boris KaufmanComposer:
Maurice JaubertVOD (1)
Plots(1)
In a repressive boarding school with rigid rules of behavior, four boys decide to rebel against the direction on a celebration day. (SPI International)
Reviews (3)
These French coming-of-age movies have always had their charm. It would certainly be in bad taste to compare Jean's struggles with those of Nicholas, but the poetics are unfortunately identical. Little Nicolas was certainly not an anarchist, but his class had a number of similar aberrations. ()
The third of Jean Vigo’s four films inorganically combines the realistic with the poetic and vainly disguises the combat-like conditions under which it was made. Rather than as a ground-breaking work of French poetic realism and bold social criticism (the film was banned shortly after its premiere), today Zero for Conduct attracts attention for being a source of inspiration for Truffaut’s debut and for the much cruder rebellious British satire If…, in which live ammunition replaced vegetables. 70% ()
A film that earned its fame primarily in the 1950s but definitely has a universal message that speaks to young people even today. Authority makes sense, but only if it is not senseless. Vigo does this well in a great atmosphere of mild strangeness that manages to charm. Or you might just watch it with bewilderment. ()
Gallery (15)
Photo © Janus Films
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