CTCS 200: History of International Cinema I
Professor Laura Serna
TA: Andrew Meyers
12 December 2014
Final Exam
A. Clip Analysis – “Kids United” from Zéro de conduite (1933)
Through his distinctive formalistic style and vibrant temporal experimentation, Jean Vigo’s famous pillow fighting sequence from Zéro de conduite (1933) represents a culmination of his anarchist political ideology. Because the children present a microcosmic model of France during the increasing fascist pressures of WWII, the chaotic breakdown in visual composition mirrors a disintegration of the authoritarian institution. The scene’s establishing, high-angled wide-shot emphasizes totality and uniformity – established by the strict, parallel lines of the dormitory’s bed frames. As tensions rise with Caussat’s speech, Vigo approaches the movement from…show more content… As the energy swells into a full-scale rebellion, the disarray amounts into oblique, frenzied movements, with the boys charging in all directions, in and out of the frame. Here, Vigo transcends the boundary between order and turmoil, mirroring the transition from bureaucratic institutions to complete anarchy. The scene climaxes with a slow-motion flurry of pillow feathers as boys march like soldiers through a bizarre blizzard. Through this temporal extension Vigo breathes life into the surreal landscape of childhood imagination, implicating a rebellion not against just authority, but time itself. In this way, Vigo makes the children invulnerable to the banal laws of space-time. They hoist Caussat in a chair and advance in a religious-like
