featurette
In the American film industry, a featurette is a kind of film that is shorter than a full-length feature, but longer than a short film. The term may refer to either of two types of content: a shorter film or a companion film.
Medium-length film ...
directed by
Jean Vigo
Jean Vigo (; 26 April 1905 – 5 October 1934) was a French film director who helped establish poetic realism in film in the 1930s. His work influenced French New Wave cinema of the late 1950s and early 1960s.
Biography
Vigo was born to Emi ...
. 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
Anarchism is a political philosophy and Political movement, movement that seeks to abolish all institutions that perpetuate authority, coercion, or Social hierarchy, hierarchy, primarily targeting the state (polity), state and capitalism. A ...
view of
childhood
A child () is a human being between the stages of childbirth, birth and puberty, or between the Development of the human body, developmental period of infancy and puberty. The term may also refer to an unborn human being. In English-speaking ...
. 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
François Roland Truffaut ( , ; ; 6 February 1932 – 21 October 1984) was a French filmmaker, actor, and critic. He is widely regarded as one of the founders of the French New Wave. He came under the tutelage of film critic Andre Bazin as a ...
paid homage to ''Zero for Conduct'' in his film ''
The 400 Blows
''The 400 Blows'' () is a 1959 French Coming-of-age film, coming-of-age Drama (film and television), drama film, and the directorial debut of François Truffaut, who also co-wrote the film. Shot in the anamorphic format List of anamorphic forma ...
'' (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
Lindsay Gordon Anderson (17 April 1923 – 30 August 1994) was a British feature-film, theatre and documentary director, film critic, and leading light of the Free Cinema movement and of the British New Wave. He is most widely remembered fo ...
has acknowledged that his own film '' if....'' was inspired by ''Zero for Conduct''.
Plot
Four rebellious young boys at a repressive French boarding school plot and execute a revolt against their teachers and take over the school. The film opens by showing the joyful, carefree nature of childhood as two boys (Caussat and Colin) returning to boarding school on the train enjoy playing pranks on each other and their fellow travelers. Back on campus, they are reprimanded by the school teachers and staff who inflict severe punishments on them and deprive them of their freedom and creativity. Three of the youngest of the protagonists: Caussaut (the leader), Colin (the cook’s son), and Bruel are singled out and form a bond of friendship over their shared defiance of the school’s strict rules and absurd punishments.
As the school term progresses, the boys engage in various pranks and acts of rebellion, including disrupting classes and mocking their overseers. They are encouraged, however by the support of a new class supervisor, Huguet, who is closer to the age and mentality of the young students and sympathizes with them, taking them out into the town for some fun. Adept at imitating Charlie Chaplin, Huguet shows himself capable of doing a handstand on a desk in the middle of the enthusiastic boys. Another class supervisor, quite different from Huguet, puts an end to this chaotic fun and punishes the boys with another zero for conduct, meaning they will not be permitted to leave the school on Sundays. The boys determine to plot a rebellion at the recently announced celebration to honor important alumni and visitors. Emboldened by their plans for revolution, the boys stage a food fight at the cafeteria in protest of the bad food. Unwanted attention from the science teacher provokes Tabard, a very young protagonist with delicate and effeminate features, to talk back rudely.
In the dormitory, the boys begin their revolt by raising their skull and crossbones flag, tying up the supervising teacher snoozing in his bed, instigating a pillow fight, and marching around in their nightshirts. The action reaches its peak on the day of the school festival. The four boys implement their plan to revolt, during which the celebration’s decorations and exhibitions are destroyed and the guests scattered as tin cans and other garbage is thrown down at them. The four boys triumphantly mount the rooftops, marching towards the serene skies that guarantee their newfound freedom.
Cast
* Gérard de Bédarieux – Tabard
* Louis Lefebvre – Caussat
* Gilbert Pruchon – Colin
* Coco Golstein – Bruel
*
Jean Dasté
Jean Dasté (born Jean Georges Gustave Dasté; 18 September 1904 – 15 October 1994)
– Surveillant Huguet
* Robert le Flon – Surveillant Pète-Sec
* Du Verron – Surveillant-Général Bec-de-Gaz (as du Verron)
* Delphin – Principal du Collège
*
Léon Larive
Léon François Larive (28 June 1886 – 20 July 1961) was a French film actor. He appeared in more than 90 films between 1923 and 1961.
Selected filmography
* '' Two Timid Souls'' (1928)
* '' The Great Passion'' (1928)
* '' La Passion de ...
– 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)
Production
In late 1932, Vigo and his wife Lydou Vigo were both in poor health and Vigo was at a low point in his career. He then met and befriended Jacques-Louis Nounez, a rich businessman who was interested in making films. Vigo discussed the idea of a film about his childhood experiences at a
Millau
Millau (; ) is a commune in Occitania, France. Located at the confluence of the Tarn and Dourbie rivers, the town is a subprefecture of the Aveyron department.
Millau is known for its Viaduct, glove industry and several nearby natural ...
boarding school and Nounez agreed to finance it.
''Zero for Conduct'' was shot from December 1932 until January 1933 with a budget of 200,000 francs. Vigo used mostly non-professional actors and sometimes people that he found on the street. The four main characters are all based on real people that Vigo had known in his youth. Caussat and Bruel were based on friends from Millau, Colin was based on a friend he had known in Chartes and Tabard was based on Vigo himself. The teachers depicted in the film were based on the guards at ''La Petite Roquette'' juvenile prison where Vigo's father Miguel Almereyda had once been an inmate. The film's soundtrack was of poor quality due to budgetary constraints but Vigo's use of poetic, rhythmic dialogue has been said to make it much easier to understand what characters are saying. At one point in the film, Tabard tells his teachers "shit on you!", which was once a famous headline in a French newspaper that Vigo's father had directed at all world governments. Vigo's poor health became worse during the film's production but he was able to complete the editing.
Reception
The film was first screened on April 7, 1933, in Paris. The premiere shocked many audience members who hissed and booed Vigo. Other audience members, most notably Jacques Prevert, loudly clapped.
French film critics were strongly divided about the film. Some called it "simply ridiculous" and compared it to "lavatory flushing" while others praised its "fiery daring" and called Vigo "the
Céline
Céline, sometimes spelled Celine, is a French female first name version of Latin origin, coming from ''Caelīna'', the feminine form of the Roman cognomen ''Caelīnus'', meaning "heavenly".
François Truffaut
François Roland Truffaut ( , ; ; 6 February 1932 – 21 October 1984) was a French filmmaker, actor, and critic. He is widely regarded as one of the founders of the French New Wave. He came under the tutelage of film critic Andre Bazin as a ...
's ''
The 400 Blows
''The 400 Blows'' () is a 1959 French Coming-of-age film, coming-of-age Drama (film and television), drama film, and the directorial debut of François Truffaut, who also co-wrote the film. Shot in the anamorphic format List of anamorphic forma ...
'' (1959) and
Lindsay Anderson
Lindsay Gordon Anderson (17 April 1923 – 30 August 1994) was a British feature-film, theatre and documentary director, film critic, and leading light of the Free Cinema movement and of the British New Wave. He is most widely remembered fo ...
's '' if....'' (1968). Truffaut praised the film and said that "in one sense ''Zero de Conduite'' represents something more rare than ''
L'Atalante
''L'Atalante'', also released as ''Le Chaland qui passe'' ("The Passing Barge"), is a 1934 French film written and directed by Jean Vigo, and starring Jean Dasté, Dita Parlo and Michel Simon.
After the difficult release of his controversial sho ...
'' because the masterpieces consecrated to childhood in literature or cinema can be counted on the fingers of one hand. They move us doubly since the esthetic emotion is compounded by a biographical, personal and intimate emotion ... They bring us back to our short pants, to school, to the blackboard, to vacations, to our beginnings in life."
Style and themes
Vigo's biographer Paulo Emílio Salles Gomes has discussed Vigo's "extreme sensitivity to anything concerning a child's vulnerability in the adult world" and his "respect for children and their feelings."
Gomes also compared the boarding school in the film to a microcosm of the world, stating that "the division to the children and adults inside the school corresponds to the division of society into classes outside: a strong minority imposing its will on a weak majority."
Hodson shows how Vigo's film aligns "surrealist poetry" with "anarchist pedagogy," offering the audience a special kind of experience which he call a "magical transformation of mundane space" This is attributed to his lack of experience in filmmaking that opened up a space of creative freedom for his directing. Difficulties recording the dialogue forced Vigo to ignore the conventions of building the film's narrative; instead the apparent disorganization of the shots reflects Vigo's penchant for anarchism in the integration of his personal experience in a boarding school.
Awards
The 2011
Parajanov-Vartanov Institute
The Parajanov-Vartanov Institute is an American film organization based in Los Angeles, California, that works to study, preserve and promote the legacy of filmmakers Sergei Parajanov and Mikhail Vartanov
Mikhail Vartanov (, , February 21, 1937 ...
Award posthumously honoured Jean Vigo's ''Zero for Conduct'' and was presented to his daughter and French film critic Luce Vigo by the actor
Jon Voight
Jonathan Vincent Voight (; born December 29, 1938) is an American actor. Throughout his career, he has received numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, and four Golden Globe Awards as well as nominations ...
.
Martin Scorsese
Martin Charles Scorsese ( , ; born November17, 1942) is an American filmmaker. One of the major figures of the New Hollywood era, he has received List of awards and nominations received by Martin Scorsese, many accolades, including an Academ ...
wrote a letter for the occasion, with praise for Vigo,
Sergei Parajanov
Sergei Iosifovich Parajanov (January 9, 1924 – July 20, 1990) was a Soviet film director and screenwriter. He is regarded by film critics, film historians and filmmakers to be one of the greatest filmmakers of all time.
Parajanov was born to ...
and
Mikhail Vartanov
Mikhail Vartanov (, , February 21, 1937 – December 29, 2009) was a Soviet filmmaker and cinematographer who made significant contribution to world cinema with the documentary films ''Parajanov: The Last Spring'' and ''Seasons''.
He is considere ...