Zero for Conduct

  • Jean Vigo
  • France
  • 1933
  • 44'
  • Zéro de conduite

In a provincial boarding school, the children return from holidays into a routine of classes, recreation, and punishment for mischief. The title itself refers to grounding the punished students on Sundays. One evening, the boys devise a plan to rebel against the authority and take over the school. A representation of a repressive, bureaucratic education system, inspired by the director’s own experience. The then public found it offensive and it was banned. François Truffaut (The Four Hundred Blows) and Lindsay Anderson (If.…) cited it as their inspiration.

Subtitles: HR

Jean Vigo

French director (1905 – 1934) of anarchistic views and a propensity for combining realistic and poetic elements. He made just three short (À propos de Nice, Zero for Conduct, Taris) and one feature film (the masterpiece L’Atalante) before his untimely death.

Zero for Conduct

Director
Jean Vigo
Screenplay
Jean Vigo
Cast
Jean Dasté, Robert Le Flon, du Verron, Delphin, Léon Larive, Madame Emile, Louis de Gonzague-Frick, Raphaël Diligent, Louis Lefebvre, Gilbert Pruchon, Coco Golstein, Gérard de Bédarieux
DOP
Boris Kaufman
Editing
Jean Vigo
Producer
Jean Vigo
Production
Argui-Film