Zero for Conduct

First published in France in 1957, Gomes’s Jean Vigo was the first book-length study of the revered French director, who completed only four films in his short life. Drawing on Vigo’s own boarding-school years, the poetic featurette Zero for Conduct follows four boys who plan a revolt against their repressive teachers. Influential in its own right (inspiring François Truffaut among others), the film offers the perfect introduction to Vigo’s oeuvre. (41 mins., 35mm)