Jean Vigo was a French film director who played a significant role in shaping the cinematic movement of poetic realism in the 1930s, leaving a lasting impact on the French New Wave of the late 1950s and early 1960s.
Born to Emily Clero and Catalan militant anarchist Eugeni Bonaventura de Vigo i Sallés, who later adopted the name Miguel Almereyda, Jean's early life was marked by constant movement with his parents, who were on the run. His father was imprisoned and murdered in Fresnes Prison in 1917, and Jean was subsequently sent to boarding school under an assumed name to conceal his identity.
Vigo is renowned for his two seminal films, Zero for Conduct (1933) and L'Atalante (1934),which had a profound influence on the development of French and world cinema. Zero for Conduct, a 44-minute anarchic crescendo, and L'Atalante, a dreamlike tale of a newly married couple's reunion, showcased Vigo's innovative filmmaking style, effortlessly merging naturalistic and surreal elements.
His career began with À propos de Nice (1930),a subversive silent film critiquing social inequality in Nice, and Jean Taris, Swimming Champion (1931),a study of swimmer Jean Taris. Although none of his four films were commercial successes, Vigo continued to create, even selling his camera due to financial struggles and health issues.
Vigo was married to an unknown wife and had a daughter, Luce Vigo, a film critic, in 1931. Zero for Conduct was banned by the French government until after World War II, and L'Atalante was mutilated by its distributor, leading to Vigo's illness and eventual death from tuberculosis at the age of 29 in 1934.
Despite his tragic demise, Vigo's films have outlived their detractors, with L'Atalante ranking as the 6th-best film of all time in Sight & Sound's 1992 poll. A 1934 copy of L'Atalante was discovered in the British National Film and Television Archive in the late 1980s, allowing for its restoration to its original version.
In recognition of Vigo's contributions to cinema, the Parajanov-Vartanov Institute Award posthumously honored him in 2011 for Zero for Conduct, with the award being presented to his daughter Luce Vigo.
