Based on Jean Vigo’s short Zero for Conduct, Anderson’s film focuses on much older boys at a British boarding school, an institution which I truly believe must be hell on earth. Sadistic professors are in abundance, and there is little that our sarcastic teenage protagonists can do, save minor misbehaviors that eventually explode into full on, if fantastical moments of anarchy. Leading the pack is a young Malcolm McDowell as Mick Travis, whose beguiling voice is matched by his steely blue eyes (easy to see why Kubrick cast him for A Clockwork Orange soon after, observing his charming antipathy for law here). The film is slightly uneven but inspired all the same – the most out of control behavior is nearly Godardian, filmed in garish primary colors, surrealistic style, and lustful, primal behavior that echoes both Pierrot le fou and Weekend.
by Jenny Jediny | Source: Criterion Collection DVD
30 Sep 2007 11:19 PM | Submit Comment
