Oddball Films presents Bad Behavior, a program exploring teen traumas, cultural conflict and youthful
rebellion. Whether in a French Boarding school in 1933 or on the streets of the
San Francisco’s Mission district in 1971 disaffected youth have many ways to
express their frustration. The program features the legendary Jean Vigo film Zero for Conduct (1933). One of the most poetic films ever made and one of
the most influential, Vigo based his first fictional film on his own miserable
experiences in a French boarding school, and the result is one of the greatest
films about youth ever made. Its influence is felt in other filmic tales
of disaffected youth, from Francois Truffaut’s The 400 Blows
(1959) to Alan Parker’s Pink Floyd: The Wall
(1982), and Lindsay Anderson’s If… (1968). Also
screening will be the noirish story of a tough teenage boy Boy With a Knife (1956) starring B-movie legend Richard Widmark and Chuck Connors and The
Bully (1951), a classic mental hygiene film featuring Chick Allen-school
bully! Plus! Clips from the rare, shot-in San Francisco film Latino: A
Cultural Conflict (1971) charting the path of a Salvadorian
delinquent in SF’s Mission district. With priceless shots of the Mission.
Date: Thursday, June 7, 2012 at 8:00PM
Admission: $10.00 Limited Seating RSVP to programming@oddballfilm.com
or 415.558.8117.Featuring:
Zero
For Conduct (Jean Vigo, 1933, B&W)
“One
of the most poetic films ever made and one of the most influential.” – New Yorker
Jean Vigo
based his first fictional film on his own miserable experiences in a French
boarding school, and the result is one of the greatest films about children
ever made. It’s influence is felt
in other filmic tales of disaffected youth, from Francois Truffaut’s The 400
Blows (1959) to
Alan Parker’s Pink Floyd: The Wall (1982), and especially Lindsay Anderson’s If… (1968).
Zero was made for a mere 200,000
francs and shot by Vigo's friend Boris Kaufman, younger brother of Soviet
"Kino-Eye" pioneer Dziga Vertov (A Man with a Movie Camera). It received a mixed reception
on its initial 1933 release and was soon banned for fear it would instigate civil
unrest. Re-released in 1945, it has since been accepted as a landmark of world
cinema. After completing L’Atalante in 1934, Vigo’s promising career
was cut short by his death from septicemia at the age of 29.
The plot
follows the misadventures of a group of young students as they endure the
absurdities and deprivations forced upon them by their petty, authoritarian
teachers. Matters escalate into a
full-scale dormitory rebellion. Beds are overturned and pillows ripped open,
resulting in a rain of feathers--one of the most beautiful images in this, or
any, film. Finally, locked in an attic, the young rebels escape onto the roof
and rain down a barrage of books, stones, and shoes onto a group of visiting
dignitaries, inspiring the rest of the boys to revolt and take over the school.
Boy
With a Knife (1951, B&W)
A rare
film noir-like RKO social guidance film. Jerry, an "at-risk" young
man, uses his knife as an "equalizer" to solve his frustrations
stemming from his unhappy home, which is dominated by his stepmother. A group
worker reaches Jerry and helps him to transcend his anger. Director: Laslo
Benedek. Narrator: Richard Widmark. With Chuck Connors. A classic social
guidance film!
The
Bully (1951, B&W)
Social
misfit and malcontent Chick Allen, the school bully, holds an unquenchable
grudge against all that is good - and smaller - the kids in his class. Chick is
constantly grabbing people by the shirt and throwing them to the ground. He
wants to mess up the class picnic, but his plans are leaked by Skipper, one of
his small lackeys. The class decides to thwart Chick and, at the same time,
offer him a last chance to bond with society.
Plus!
Latino:
A Cultural Conflict (1971, B+W)
Clips from a rare documentary shot by Brian Lewis
on the streets of San Francisco's Mission District over 40 years ago. The film
charts the alienation of teenager Mauricio from the Anglo community and his
descent into drug use and criminal activity due to the cultural conflict
between home versus school, and the unrealistic expectations of educators who
expect Chicano students to conform to Anglo ways. Sound familiar?