Zéro de conduite: Jeunes diables au collège (1933)

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:

Bizarre | Surreal | Surrealism | Part Animated | Homosexuality

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:

Zéro de conduite (France) (short title)
Zero for Conduct (USA)

Runtime:

41 min

Country:

France

Language:

French

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Taiwan:GP | Spain:T | 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:

Spoofed in Un bon petit diable (1983)

wow--this movie really shows its age

OVERRATED "ART FILM" ALERT: The following film is adored by sophisticated and "with it" film fans. The fact that the average person may find the whole thing unfunny and bland is due to their just not being smart enough to understand and appreciate this masterpiece.

In its time, this film was seen as quite innovative and fresh. However, by today's standards, it is far from it. I just don't think this movie has aged well at all. The film is a choppy and episodic Animal House-like film involving some brats at a boarding school and the stupid administrators and teachers. Kudos for being one of the first movies of its type, but the movie is only for die-hard film buffs.

This movie is only about 45 minutes long. Other shorts of this era, such as the films of Laurel and Hardy, are infinitely watchable in this day and age. I'm sorry to all the movie's fans, but perhaps my score of 4 is a bit charitable, as I felt it was a real chore to watch and there are certainly better films from France in the 1930s. And, I know this will no-doubt offend many, but I truly wonder if much of the reason critics LOVE this film is because Vigo died so young and tragically.