The Jean Vigo Collection Reviews

Masterpieces

Vigo was truly a poet of the cinema and one of the very few genuine artists produced by the medium. If you want ravishing images and a cinema of humanity and grace then you must see these fims - they will haunt your imagination.

[Highly rated reviewer]

Considerable Charm

There are three films on this DVD, in parts satirical in tone, in others surreal, in others poetic. The longest, 'L'Atlante', has such a slight plot and so little in the way of event, but creates an atmosphere which draws the viewer in and holds the attention. This director's work has clearly been very influential and it's easy to see why. It's no good watching them with hindsight - they have to be appreciated in the spirit of the times in which they were made, and admired for their sly humour, warmth and technique.

More of a curiosity than an entertainment

A blithe canter through 1930s France contained in four features from Vigo as pioneer of le Cinéma francais. ‘À propos de Nice’ is a bit of naughty-naughty from the seaside postcard south, and in ‘Taris, roi de l'eau’ Vigo goes through some impressive technical paces that I am sure would have raised eyebrows at the time. ‘Zéro de conduite: Jeunes diables au collège’ and L’Atalante are vaudeville sharing much in style and content to Charlie Chaplin.

Disappointing, really, when considered Renoir’s ‘La Règle du jeu’ completed a mere five years later, but nonetheless required viewing for the serious student of cinema from the other side of La Manche.

[Highly rated reviewer]

Great stuff.

L'Atalante is the most romantic and possibly the most beautifully filmed film of all time.Zero de Conduite is a little dated but still we wouldn't have had 'If' without this bizarre masterpiece.

I''m giving it five marks because it's influential,very enjoyable and the head teacher in Zero de Conduite is a little odd.

A Loss to Cinema History

The four films he made were exceptional for the time, but viewed together, or one after the other, I found rather too hectic for a normal appraisal. I would suggest that if you rent the package, watch just 'L'Atalante' at first and then the others later, or, like me , you might just suffer from a Vigo overdose on the night. I never realised just how OTT and improvised the main film was, imagining it be just a pleasant trip on a boat. Anything but, for this was full scale drama, complete with Gallic histrionics and melodrama. Nothing peaceful about it at all. All these films were made in Jean Vigo's twenties and, had he lived, just imagine how great a director he would have become. Formidable!

Curate's egg best consumed in small doses

Four very different films. Don't bogart them all in one go or you won't do them justice. This is all stuff that will live with you forever. A propos de Nice is fascinating by anyone's standards. L'Atlante is a must for cat lovers. Other two films maybe more for the cinema student than the average viewer.

L'Atalante is the star

I saw L'Atalante years ago and still enjoyed it, despite a bit of hammy acting here and there.

The three others in the collection I found boring.

Atalante

I found this tender sensitive account of ealry marital troubles of a couple living on a Seine barge with tough old mariner father/father-in- law Michle Simon utterly captivating: French cinema at its best . Camerawork is deft, and tells you all you need to know about the context and the plot and period. A true Classic

Like 'Zero de Conduite', in which schoolboys take over the school full of incompetent teachers for a few hours. Every schoolboy's dream. A forerunner of 'If' but much more light-hearted.

[Highly rated reviewer]

Just marvellous .....L'atalante!

I've been a francophile for a long time, but this film was just so staggeringly wonderful, I had to do a review. (Normally can't be bothered!)

The girl lead is gorgeous, as is the mate on the boat.

Supporting actors fit in just right, and it seems so real......not a film. It's very funny frequently, sad too, and also happy at times.....

So give it a run. You won't regret it.