Zéro de conduite / Zero For Conduct (1933) :
Brief Review -
Jean Vigo's own anarchist childhood episode adopted as a rebellious children oriented French flick. François Truffaut paid homage to Zero for Conduct in his film The 400 Blows (1959) which is a higher rated film than this french short but for me both the films hold the same rank. I neither over praised 400 Blows because i didn't really find it that amazing nor i am going to sing exaggerated praises for this one. There are reasons for it and that doesn't mean i hate these film or I'm calling them bad. Both are very good products, something really offbeat and powerful but within limits. It is not like that these two film are greatest of all time or so as said by some critics and movie fans. Well, it's Strictly my personal opinion and naturally others are free to have their own. So, The film draws extensively on Vigo's boarding school experiences to depict a repressive, abusive and bureaucratised educational establishment in which surreal acts of rebellion occur, reflecting Vigo's anarchist view of childhood. Now just because it is a short, it is saved otherwise it would have been called a slow film. The 49 minutes version I saw on YouTube (with English Subtitles) is fairly engaging for the first time viewing. First 10 minutes might sound slow but later it gets pacy, especially in the last 15 minutes with all that rebellion stuff. Somehow it takes time to come to the point but the moment which turns a silence into a storm is definitely worthy. When that teacher touches the hand of a student and then humiliating situation is thrown out with those famous abusing words FU.. That's where this film becomes special. Ahead of time and extremely rebellious, which, i guess wasn't done by any film till 1933. So, overall it's a must see for the daring projection but nothing like Greatest kind.
RATING - 7/10*
By - #samthebestest.
Jean Vigo's own anarchist childhood episode adopted as a rebellious children oriented French flick. François Truffaut paid homage to Zero for Conduct in his film The 400 Blows (1959) which is a higher rated film than this french short but for me both the films hold the same rank. I neither over praised 400 Blows because i didn't really find it that amazing nor i am going to sing exaggerated praises for this one. There are reasons for it and that doesn't mean i hate these film or I'm calling them bad. Both are very good products, something really offbeat and powerful but within limits. It is not like that these two film are greatest of all time or so as said by some critics and movie fans. Well, it's Strictly my personal opinion and naturally others are free to have their own. So, The film draws extensively on Vigo's boarding school experiences to depict a repressive, abusive and bureaucratised educational establishment in which surreal acts of rebellion occur, reflecting Vigo's anarchist view of childhood. Now just because it is a short, it is saved otherwise it would have been called a slow film. The 49 minutes version I saw on YouTube (with English Subtitles) is fairly engaging for the first time viewing. First 10 minutes might sound slow but later it gets pacy, especially in the last 15 minutes with all that rebellion stuff. Somehow it takes time to come to the point but the moment which turns a silence into a storm is definitely worthy. When that teacher touches the hand of a student and then humiliating situation is thrown out with those famous abusing words FU.. That's where this film becomes special. Ahead of time and extremely rebellious, which, i guess wasn't done by any film till 1933. So, overall it's a must see for the daring projection but nothing like Greatest kind.
RATING - 7/10*
By - #samthebestest.