Synopsis
In 1798, a feral boy is discovered outside the town of Aveyron, France. Diagnosed as mentally impaired, he is relegated to an asylum. A young doctor named Jean Itard becomes convinced that the boy has normal mental capacity, but that his development was hindered by lack of contact with society. He brings the boy home and begins an arduous attempt at education over several years.
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Cast
- Jean-Pierre CargolVictor, l'Enfant Sauvage
- François TruffautLe Dr Jean Itard
- Françoise SeignerMadame Guerin
- Jean DastéProfessor Philippe Pinel
- Annie MillerMadame Lemeri
- Claude MillerMonsieur Lemeri
- Paul VilléRemy
- Nathan MillerBaby Lemeri
- Mathieu SchiffmanMathieu
- Jean GruaultVisitor at Institute
Recommendations
- 100
Chicago Sun-Times
So often movies keep our attention by flashy tricks and cheap melodrama; it is an intellectually cleansing experience to watch this intelligent and hopeful film. - 100
TV Guide Magazine
Probably the director's most ambitious film, The Wild Child spins a modern myth with resonances for parents and children, teachers and students, and even filmmakers, actors and audiences. - 100
Time Out
Unlike the acting-histrionics competition in Hollywood’s The Miracle Worker (1962), Truffaut never upstages the astounding Cargol; both performers underplay in perfect harmony, turning the story into a duet of paternal affection and paradise lost. - 100
Los Angeles Times
An enduring film of enchanting and provocative revelation. [09 Jan 2009, p.E15] - 90
Time Out
It's as lucid and wryly witty a film as you could wish for, uncluttered by superfluous period detail. A beautiful use of simple techniques - black-and-white photography, Vivaldi music, even devices as outmoded as the iris - give it a very refreshing quality. - 90
The New York Times
Unlike any other film Truffaut has ever made, yet only Truffaut could have made it. It is a lovely, pure film. And it may be a classic. - 90
Variety
It progresses slowly but absorbingly. Truffaut underplays but exudes an interior tenderness and dedication. The boy is amazingly and intuitively well played by a tousled gypsy tyke named Jean-Pierre Cargol. Everybody connected with this unusual, off-beat film made in black-and-white rates kudos. - 88
Boston Globe
Nearly four decades after its release, The Wild Child remains startling for its humane clarity, for Nestor Almendros's brilliant black-and-white photography, and for the sense that Truffaut is achieving filmmaking mastery on a very small scale.
