In a repressive boarding school with rigid rules of behavior, four boys decide to rebel against the direction on a celebration day.

"Zéro de conduite" was approvingly described by critic David Thomson as "forty-four minutes of sustained, if roughly shot anarchic crescendo." This was not the widespread opinion at first, however, and "Zéro de conduite" was actually banned by the French government until after the second world war.

Though the film was not immediately popular, it has proved to be enduringly influential. Fran?ois Truffaut paid homage to "Zero for Conduct" in his 1959 film "The 400 Blows", widely considered one of the greatest films of all time. And then there is the influence on "If...", which should be better-known.

It's a real shame that director Jean Vigo died as young as he did. With an only four film long career, he still managed to make some of the greatest and most important films of all time!

"Zero for Conduct" was Vigo's third film, and it is an absolute masterpiece of French cinema. Using many experimental filmmaking techniques (ex: slow motion, animation, etc.), it's a satirical comedy that celebrates cinema and freedom.

Of course, it's very unconventional. As I said before, it uses some very experimental techniques, and it is full of many more strange stylizations. The soundtrack is pretty odd, because at times, it actually features a song being played in reverse!

"Zero for Conduct" is a true masterpiece!

Jean Vigo's "Zero for Conduct" embodies all the worst connotations of the term 'art film': it's dull, pretentious and incomprehensible. Worst of all, the claims that critics make for the film are untrue. Far from being 'the purest picture in the history of cinema of what authority appears to be to young minds' (Mick Martin & Marsha Porter, 'Video Movie Guide'), "Zero for Conduct" comes off as an effete adult's self-consciously artsy statement about youth versus the powers that be...and it's a long, distorted lens indeed that Vigo was looking down. Explosions, fast cars and nude starlets aren't necessarily my idea of a good time, but neither is this. (If you're in the mood for art cinema, might I suggest Maya Deren's "Meshes of the Afternoon" instead?)