Zéro de conduite : Jeunes diables au collège [Zero for Conduct] (1933)

(On Cable TV, September 2022) As with many influential films, Zéro de conduite has been imitated so often that it feels hackneyed. The idea of portraying school life with a jaundiced eye is now commonplace, but in the early days of cinema is seemed like a small revolution, and indeed Jean Vigo’s film was quickly banned upon release and rediscovered later, thus inspiring the French New Wave (most notably, and visibly, Les 400 coups). So, there’s definitely some historical interest there—but if you’re taking the film at face value, it’s perhaps duller (certainly shorter, at 49 minutes) than expected. The tale of schoolboy rebellion feels at once familiar and still a bit upsetting, far removed from the sentimentality of childhood and making clear parallels between prison and the schoolyard. It’s short enough that it doesn’t eat up time… but, at the same time, leaves less of an impression. If I’m not enthusiastic about Zéro de conduite, it’s probably because I have the feeling I’ve seen it elsewhere, with much slicker technical credentials.