Zero For Conduct, directed by Jean Vigo, is now considered a classic of films about adolescence. It certainly is a funny and shocking film—we heard you laughing during it. So with this said:
1. Your reaction to the film? Like? Dislike? Both? What moment or scene stayed with you from your viewing—and why?
2. Think about what we talked about in class today. How does Zero for Conduct address or reflect any of what we talked about in class? Make specific connections, please.
3. What do you think is going to happen in the last ten minutes of the film? Maybe the same question, but maybe not: what do you want to happen in the last ten minutes?
4. Finally: listen to the Who song we named this class after. How does it reflect or address any of what we talked about in class today?
200 words in all for the four questions. Tomorrow we will talk about the movie and maybe a little about the song. We'll begin Rebel Without a Cause tomorrow. Here's a preview, with the immortal James Dean and Natalie Wood.
1 ) I enjoyed the film. I liked the humor in it. The scene where they were ripping up the pillows was very memorable to me. This scene was memorable to me because I thought that it was funny when they were hitting the teacher with the pillows. I also liked the scene directly after that where they were marching. I thought it was funny that they declared war against the teachers.
ReplyDelete2 ) In class we talked a lot about how doing well in school can be very stressful. We also talked about how we are not really enjoying the some of the best years of our lives because of stress about school. I think that the children in the movie got fed up with having to be in school all day and they got tired of being told what to do all the time by the teachers. They would rather do what they want instead of be in school all day and that is why they decide to rebel against the teachers.
3 ) I think that the kids will rebel against the teachers and school by basically destroying the school. They will also probably do something to the teachers. I think and hope that this happens because it would be very intertwining to watch.
4 ) I think that the song is talking some about the pressures of growing up. From the lines, “Sometimes, I feel I gotta get away Bells chime, I know I gotta get away” we can tell that the person in the song is stressed by becoming an adult and having to get married. They feel trapped by their responsibilities and feel like they just want to leave their lives behind.
1. I thought the film was alright. The characters and the acting were very funny and the way the children acted was also very funny, but we weren't given any context or backstory to the events of the film. This makes it more disconnected from reality and more of a slapstick comedy than an emotionally relatable movie about adolescence.
ReplyDelete2. The film address doesn't address most of what we talked about (how close movies are to dealing with actual problems of teenagers such as college). The film is about young boys plotting a revolt against teachers they dislike. Since the film is about children much younger than us who live in a different country, a different age, and a different school, there are not many things that modern American teenagers can relate to.
3. I think that the film will end in victory for the children. I think the children will overrun the adults and make school how they want it. I want the headmaster and housemaster to receive the cruel treatment that they gave to the kids.
4. The song deals with teenagers trying to deal with their emotion and the transition from childhood to being a young adult. We talked lots about how popular culture portrays the emotions of young adults. Since the song was released in the 60s, this was a new concept to many of its listeners.
1. (part I forgot) The most memorable scene for me was the scene where the new teacher is playing with the kids in the playground. I remembered this scene because that character was the one adult who didn't treat the children in awfully. It was also pretty funny.
Delete1) I liked the film, but I found it hard to follow. I’m not sure if I fully understand what has happened thus far or if the film is meant to have any real plot or message. One scene that stuck out to me was the one where the kids were all causing chaos in the classroom and the monitor did a handstand and began to draw. It was so whimsical and interesting to me. I think that it shows how adults have a childish part of themselves that they have to ignore for the sake of being able to survive in the real world.
ReplyDelete2) I think a lot of today’s conversation revolved around the stress that adults place on us. Some adults are adamant about us saving money, participating in extracurriculars, and going to a prestigious university while others tell us that we should have fun instead of being stressed. It is confusing. Everything led back to us questioning whether or not we should enjoy the time we have now or worry about everything now so that we can secure our futures. I think the way the children behaved in the filmed embodied the type of people we all wanted to be. The children were bent on trying to dismantle the system of authority that oppressed them. They cared more about living in the “now” and having fun than worrying about how their actions would affect the future. I think that is what we all want.
3) I think, and hope, that the children will be successful in their attempt to overthrow the monitors at the school. I hope that maybe some of the adults will join in.
4) I thought the song was about how the narrator feels like he is not good enough, or that his goals and aspirations do not match the ones that society has for him. He lets other boys dance with his girlfriend because he knows that they are better for her. I think in the line “ I know if I go, things would be a lot better for her I had things planned, but her folks wouldn't let her”, the girl’s parents could represent society. I think a lot of people in this class are struggling with the idea of college because they do not want to disappoint their parents but they also want to enjoy their lives and the song kind of mirrors that.
1) If I’m being entirely honest, I personally found the film a little hard to follow because of the minimal amounts of dialogue and the fact that I have trouble focusing on films with subtitles. Because I kept getting distracted, the film was slightly hard to enjoy (Note: I know it seems weird that I had trouble paying attention during this film because it was so shocking and attention grabbing at times). Overall though, I did like the film. It was funny, and I generally love movies about rebellion. I love watching movies about rebellion because it is fascinating and exciting to watch characters stand up to authority. I like to see characters break the cycle of blind following and refuse to obey the rules that most follow simply because they are told to do so. I like to see characters step outside of the societal position they are expected to remain within. I also like movies about rebellion because I usually really like rebellious characters. Even though these types of rebellious characters are often selfish, they tend to be very intelligent in untraditional ways, confident, and free spirited, which makes these types of characters very charismatic and likeable (note: this is very much related to the whole concept of the “bad boy” appeal, a common element in many movies geared towards adolecesnts)
ReplyDeleteA moment from the movie that stood out to me is the image of the very small principle standing in front of the students. Besides for just the physical comedy aspect of this, I think the director might have chosen to make the principle a midget because it further proves the point that the people that have authority only have power because people allow them to have that power. It proves the point that even though people often believe authority figures are somehow all knowing and all powerful, if people refuse to give them that power and refuse to obey them, they are simply normal people and they hold no natural authority. Without this illusion of being some sort of all powerful figure, the principle is simply a powerless midget. When the students refuse to obey him, that is all he is. The principle being a midget is satirical in that it pokes fun at how seriously authority figures take themselves as well as how authority figures believe they are superior, but really they are completely normal people with no inherent power.
2) We talked about the pressure the adults in our lives put on us to be a certain way. As adolescents, it often feels like we are expected to do everything right and never make mistakes, even though we are all just starting to figure things out. In our class discussion today, one person mentioned how adults “expect us to behave like adults but then treat us like children.” This is definitely how the kids in Zero for Conduct are treated. The kids in this movie are tired of being taught to conform to strict rules. They are tired of all the restrictions and limitations. They are tired of being treated with no trust or respect while still being expected to be the perfect model of good behavior. Because they are being treated unfairly, they rebel. The relationship between the teachers and the students in Zero for Conduct is actually quite similar to the parent-child relationship that most adolescents have with their parents. Although the limitations children receive from their parents are typically less severe than the limitations the children face in the film Zero for Conduct, and the forms of rebellion are less intense, and the relationship is also more nuanced in parent-child relationships in that hopefully in addition to the feelings of hatred there is also immense amounts of love between parents and children, and also, parents are more than just evil “monitors,” the situation in Zero for Conduct relates to the typical adolescent child-parent relationship in that parents often want to control everything their children do, and teenagers often just want freedom and independence and want nothing to do with their parents, so they rebel.
ReplyDelete3) I think the director is trying to prove a point about how restricted adolescents are by the school system and how if adolescents refuse to obey the rules and refuse to let themselves be restricted by the limitations they face, they are able to obtain freedom, and I think the most effective way to prove this point would to be to show the children having a successful rebellion, so this is what I would predict. Because I root for the children while watching this movie, I would hope to see the rebellion be a success
4) As adolescents, when making decisions about our future, we often feel conflicted about whether we want stability or adventure and freedom in our lives. This is what I think this song is about. I think this song is about feeling conflicted between settling down with a girl and living a free, adventurous life.
1. I greatly enjoyed the film that we watched, it was a very fun beginning to our class. I really enjoyed the boys are their rampant behavior and reactions to the teachers. It almost seems to be to strange to have been created as an actual film. It looks more like an elaborate joke. One scene that stuck with me was boys running after the monitor all around town. The scene showed everyone just having a good time and not really worrying about what would happen. To me it displayed a part of yourself that you lose when you get older, just having pure fun without any extra worries.
ReplyDelete2. At first glance I don’t really see many connections between our discussions and the movie we watched in class. Though the more I think, the clearer ideas become. We spoke a lot about stress and worrying about preparing ourselves for the world. That we can spend so much time worrying we forget to take the time and have fun in an age where it’s easy to have fun. In the film, none of the kids take anytime to think about anything they do before they do it. They act on their impulses and just allow themselves to get into any trouble they run into.
3. The best outcome I could see happening is the children managing to take over the entire school, but I don’t really know what would happen after that. Likely, they are going to end up getting into a great deal of trouble with the headmaster or their parents.
4. The song speaks about a young man dealing with the pressures of growing up and new relationships (particularly with a girl). It shows some of the pressures people can face as they grow older and mature.
Overall, I enjoyed the comedic aspect of the movie; however, I don’t believe that I grasped a deeper meaning than comedy. Having no dialogue made it difficult for me to understand the themes and motives of the film. The scene that stuck out to me was when the boys raised the flag in the bedroom. They had already established that strict rules applied in the bedroom, and this act of rebellion was funny and empowering.
ReplyDeleteOne of the connections that appeared in Zero for Conduct, was the way the students were treated. The adults treated the students with dismay, and the students then retaliated with a similar attitude. The one monitor who treated the students with more respect, was appreciated and liked by the students.
I think that the students are going to try and rebel against the school, but the monitors are going to reel them in and give them detention. I would like to see the students come out victorious, to prove to the monitors that they are powerful in their own way.
I believe that the song is speaking about how people can feel so overwhelmed at certain points in their life that the best thing for them is to go away and get some space. Relating that to what we spoke about in class, the pressures we face about college, grades, and relationships can be so overwhelming that sometimes people simply can’t take it anymore.
1. I liked the film because it reminded me of a cartoon like Looney Tunes. The adults were bumbling Elmer Fudds and the kids were Bugs Bunny. I could follow the basic plot of the film, but I think that there are nuances that I do not get because I do not speak French. I also do not really understand the set up of the school because there does not seem to be any teaching going on. The scene that stuck with me was the final scene we watched where the boys finally riot. The joyous, rioting boys with down falling all around like snow was a striking visual. Additionally, I thought the revolutionary slogans the boys were chanting were funny because they were elementary and middle schoolers chanting like they were liberators.
ReplyDelete2. I think the movie reflects the "adults not getting teens right" part of class today. This movie does not accurately portray a typical middle school experience. I have never heard of any middle school where the students staged antics like at this school. However, the movie seems to imply that middle schoolers are little organized revolutionaries, chomping at the bit to upend any and all authority. Like Gossip Girl, this movie portrays teens who will create and carry out elaborate schemes in order to achieve their ends. Despite this portrayal of teens as organized masterminds, real teenagers rarely organize themselves to cause mass chaos. Instead, they try to get through the day like anyone else. This year we have seen teenagers organize movements for change, but instead of the violent, attempts to institute chaos or elaborate schemes to ruin people's lives, teenagers organized peaceful demonstrations to make demands for safety and security. Despite popular portrayals, teenagers are not villainous masterminds.
3. In the last ten minutes of the film I think the headmaster will attempt to regain control but ultimately lose it. Then, the new monitor will do the impossible and regain control. I think this because thus far, the headmaster has been portrayed as a bumbling idiot who cannot control the children. The new monitor has also not been portrayed well, but I think that this will be his redemption for all his mistakes. He will be able to laugh at the other administrators who laughed at him. The boys cannot win because this movie has called them "devils" and does not celebrate their behavior. The movie goes so far as to show the boys' wildness hurting one of their own, so the wildness is not celebrated and cannot win. I like the way I think the film will end.
4. I think "The Kids are Alright" hits on some of the anxieties we talked about teenagers having in class today. In the song, the narrator sings about being not being good enough for his girlfriend because "I know if I go, things would be a lot better for her." Teenagers have always been worried about being good enough when it comes to college and relationships with friends. Teenagers increasingly feel like they have to be perfect to get into college. Additionally, people across all ages struggle with feeling like they are not enough socially, but this sentiment especially rings true for anxious teens. I think the refrains "The kids are alright" references the common teenage feeling that everyone is doing alright but you. Teenagers often feel like they are the only ones who are struggling and no one understands. Everyone else seems like they are doing alright, which can make a teenager's personal struggle seem worse.
Though I am very confused by this film, I enjoy it. I think that the humor is very universal and timeless, and the problems the kids are facing seem to be very relatable. The scene in which the kids were getting up from bed stuck with me because I felt for the kids who got detention. These kids were merely trying to get the extra sleep hours essential for proper growth, and they were wrongly penalized for such a minor offense. Additionally, I wish this film was in english.
ReplyDeleteIn class we talked about expectations set onto younger people from their elders as well as miscommunications between generations. I feel that this film has reflected both of these topics in that there is a clear divide between the kids and the adults. Only one adult had a good relationship with the kids, and it was disheartening to see that no other adults interacted with kids in a positive way.
I predict that the kids will get their revenge on the adults by the end of the film. Since the kids seem to be the main focus of the film, it feels as though the audience is expected to root for them regardless of how immature and terrible they might be. I believe they will be successful in their reign, since the director has seemingly set up the preceding scenes to conclude with that outcome.
The song “The Kids are Alright” by The Who captures the essence of how teens are stereotypically perceived in movies. In class, we indirectly touched on the topic of the divide between how kids actually are versus how they are depicted in movies. We talked about how many of us shared common anxieties surrounding our futures, and we even had a laugh about the impossibility of kids having as much free time as movies claim they do. In the song, many of the lyrics suggest that the kids have no care in the world, claiming that they are “alright.” This depiction contrasts reality in that most teens today are incredibly stressed about their futures and are very un-alright.
1) I thought this film was very funny and clever. Although at times it was very difficult to follow, the depiction of adolescent boys in it was so spot on that it was worth it. It perfectly depicted the silly and rebellious nature of boys at that age. I really enjoyed the scene right at the beginning when the two boys were showing each other all their tricks and toys. I felt as though it was an over-exaggerated version of moments that I have actually witnessed with boys around me. Because of its very accurate depiction of adolescent boys, this scene and movie really stuck with me.
ReplyDelete2) This movie relates to the idea of finding joy within one’s teenage life. We talked in class about how a lot of our time as teenagers is spent trying to find what we like to do and searching for contentness. This movie showed a lot of scenes of boys in the midst of joyful play and rebellion. To me, their rebellion is a form of searching. By attempting to rebel against their adult supervisors, the boys are trying to find a situation in which they feel most free and in turn, happy.
3) I think the adults are going to squelch the boys’ rebellion. Although I understand the boys’ fight for freedom, in the end I believe that they will fail. The rebellion, even though the main plot line of the story, is played up to be a sort of joke within the movie. I feel as though there is no way that the directors will end the movie in victory. I want them to win though. The idea of teenagers rising up against their misunderstanding adult counterparts and winning is very attractive to me.
4) This song gives off a distinct vibe of freedom that relates heavily to adolescence. I think that a big part of being a teenager is searching for freedom and your own self. Up until a child reaches their high school years, they are fully under the control of their parents. Once they reach a certain age though, they are expected to begin to act like an adult. This expectation is soiled by the fact that although the child is expected to act mature, they have no actual freedom. Therefore, all teenagers strive for a certain amount of freedom. They constantly search for freedom to be themselves, to do what they want, and to make their own decisions. This song relates to this idea of the twisted freedom of adolescence.
I thought this film was very different from movies I’ve seen lately. It was not one of my favorite films, although it was pretty comical. I found it a bit hard to follow and I was confused about what exactly the plot or point of the movie was. I think you could definitely tell it was an old movie simply based on the action because old movies seem to show children as way more troublesome, rowdy, and tricky than recent depictions. They look more into their behavior rather than their emotions and self. One of the scenes that stuck with me was when the boys are going for a trip into town and the monitor gets distracted and doesn’t notice the boys walking the other direction. I’m not exactly sure why this stuck with me, but it sort of resembles the freedom that children yearn for. This scene also somewhat reflects what we talked about in class about children wanting freedom but also being stuck in a place with rules and authority. In the last ten minutes of the movie, I think that the kids are just going to go crazy in attempts to escape and drive the adults insane by playing tricks on them and being the worst students ever. I think this would be very amusing to watch too. The song “The Kids are Alright” relates a lot back to the sense of wanting to enjoy life as it is. Lines like “We down to ride/You know, you know that's the life/We wanna have some fun” support the idea that kids only objective is to have fun doing crazy things, and also shows that the pressures on us don’t change the desire to have adventure.
ReplyDelete1. I found the film entertaining, but I was definitely confused or uncomfortable at certain times while we were watching it. I liked how much unvocalized comedy there is in the film, like when the boys are passing the cigarette back and forth over the teacher’s head. I didn’t like that it was so hard to keep track of the plot and characters. I spent a lot of time trying to figure out what was going on. For instance, there’s one scene where one of the boys is at his guardian’s house and he’s blindfolded with a girl standing on a shelf beside him; I still don’t understand what was happening there. I think the most memorable scene for me was the scene where Huguet and the boys are taking a walk outside because it reveals Huguet’s absent-minded character and the boys’ willingness to take advantage of that absentmindedness.
ReplyDelete2. I think this film strongly relates to the theme of relationships that we talked about in class. The boys have to navigate their relationships with their peers, teachers, and parents. Tabard has to decide whether he will remain loyal to his friends or respect the wishes of the administration at school. He also has to deal with one of his teachers acting sexually inappropriate towards him. Colin faces embarrassment over the other boys’ hatred of Colin’s mother, the school cook. On the other hand, the boys also experience having positive relationships with each other and their new monitor, Huguet.
3. I think the boys are going to find some way to get revenge on their teachers for how strict they are. Throughout the film, the boys have been portrayed as superior to their teachers and are constantly ignoring them and doing what they want. I think the ending is going to be a final image of anarchy in the film. I’d really like them to be successful, but I hope that their revenge is just funny and not uncomfortable.
4. I think this song depicts the image of the care free teenager contrasted with the image of the angsty teenager. In class today, we talked about how young adult movies portray teenagers as having a lot of drama in their lives, but also having a lot of time to deal with all of this drama. In the song, the guy doesn’t care that his friends are dancing with his girlfriend, but he does experience the angsty teenage feelings of needing “to get away” sometimes.
This is Olivia W. I don't know why Google called me “Unknown.”
Delete1. I definitely found the film entertaining. And understanding the time period and resources people had back then, the film so far is okay for it entertains the viewer through comical displays of immaturity and a collage of weird character interactions. But, through the eyes of my modern self, comparing it to modern movies, the film is pretty bad. It is really hard to follow the plot line and it is hard to really grasp any connection to the characters due to the lack of dialogue. But in my best efforts to criticize fairly, I have come to a draw. So far, it's okay, giving me something fun to look at while not really having to pay too much attention to what's going on (because that seems nearly impossible).
ReplyDelete2. The Zero for Conduct policy correlates directly to our in class discussion. In class, adult to child miss-interpretation and understanding seemed to be the main topic. It seemed to me that every adult in the film had a weak if not terrible relationship with the boys. The lack of proper communication and discussion is what most likely lead to their rebellion.
3. Since we left off with the boys partaking in a mob attack on their counselor, the feeling I left with was that the boys would get their revenge and somewhat successfully complete their plan. This is also what I want to happen. The creepy fat teacher who inappropriately touches one kid definitely needs a good pillow to the face. I also find it encouraging that a group of young, kinda stupid boys can get together to form a unit and take action.
4. The song speaks on the mental complexity of a teenager. The singer seems to have a care free vibe, not seeming to care about a job or the "righteous life" society portrays as the path teens should follow. He wants to have fun, innovate, and pass some love around. "The Kids Are Alright," seems to be a jab at society, again speaking on how kids are smart enough to find their own way in life without the influence of society.
In the film “Zero for Conduct”, there were scenes that I liked as well as scenes that I didn’t like. It’s hard for me to say whether I outright liked the film or not, so I think my opinion falls somewhere in the middle. If I had to pick a favorite scene from the movie, I would say that the scene of the two boys playing with their toys on the train stood out to me. To me, the scene symbolizes a childish carelessness as well as the importance of friends in a child’s life.
ReplyDeleteIn general, the film addressed our discussion in class by focusing on the expectations that adults have for children, as well as the empowering feeling that children have when they can escape them. I believe that this was one of the main points in our discussion today.
Personally, I would think that the children in the film will somehow get caught by their adult supervisors, reprimanded, and then the whole cycle of rebellion will start over. However, what I would like to happen is for the child that climbed on to the roof to slip or something and be in danger. Then, an adult would show up to rescue the kid and the children would learn that independence is nice, but it is important to be responsible with their privilege. I don’t want this to happen just to see a kid in danger, but I actually think It would be a good way to teach a lesson.
From what I could understand. The song addresses an almost constant stress and worry that comes with being a young adult, but at the same time, how nice it can be to take a step back and hopefully realize that things aren’t as bad as they seem.
1. I enjoyed this film because the boys were in school, but still having fun. They made something that looked boring, enjoyable. I was a little confused as to why they were prancing the teachers so much but I thought it was funny anyway. I liked the scene where the boys were jumping on the beds and rebelling. There was an imaginary aspect to it when they had the flag. It reminded me of games that kids play when they are little.
ReplyDelete2. Zero for Conduct was a good example of kids who weren’t constantly focused on school. Yesterday we talked about how much some of us stress out over school work and what activities we need to do, but these kids were choosing to enjoy their time in school instead of studying all the time. They would prank the science teacher, and not always follow their homeroom teacher on the street, which is a perfect example of their carefree mindset. Because of this tone, the film was fun to watch. It helped me to see that sometimes taking some time to have fun can pay off.
3. I think the boys will get detention but they won’t learn any lessons. They still will want to have fun and mess around in class. Maybe the fun teacher will join them or get a talking to by the headmaster, but the film is too light for them to get in real trouble. Even though the boys set a bad example for the school, they are happy and the headmaster won’t interfere with that too much. I also want them to not change who they are. I like that the boys make sure they have fun.
4. The song talks about how the kids are enjoying their time as the new generation. They are saying that they’re ok and they are having fun while they can instead of stressing which was what we were debating yesterday. It mentions things like not focusing on the nine to five work days or striving to have that life through work.