Jean Vigo led a famously short life, he lived only until his thirties, and made four films, each of which were great, two of which were perfect. The first was l'Atalante, the second was 'Zero for Conduct', which was based on his experiences growing up an orphan living in several boarding schools, constantly battling lifelong ailments which would eventually go on to kill him. The poignancy of a life like his comes from the fact that some people spend their whole careers trying to make just one film that comes close to what he did effortlessly in his twenties, and no doubt had he lived longer he would have gained the recognition and popularity awarded to filmmakers like Truffaut and Godard, two directors who perhaps owe their careers to Vigo, particularly Truffaut, who's 400 Blows took much inspiration and material from this film. It is clear the artistic impact Vigo had, he was a master who experimented with sound and music loops well before it became fashion to do so, as well as camera speeds such as during the wonderful pillow fight sequence which is slowed down so we can see a hurricane of feathers gently floating around the frame. I will never forget this image. Zero for Conduct was particularly short, not long enough to be considered a feature, but not short enough to be considered a short film, but in my opinion too short. I would have gladly watched another hour of this beautiful and strange film...
Review of Zero for Conduct
