The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2001-07.
Vigo, Jean
(zhäN vg´) (KEY) , 190534, French movie director, whose original name was Jean Almereyda. His reputation is based on two superb films: Zéro de Conduite (1933) and LAtalante (1934, uncut release 1989). Zéro de Conduite is a surrealistic depiction of Vigos years in boarding school and shows a poetic expressiveness and a marked feeling for the strange and unexpected. LAtalante is a haunting evocation of life on a Paris river barge and in the citys river-front districts.