Movies:
The Wild Child
DVD Release
- Release Date: 2001
- Original theatrical trailer
- Rating:
- Genre: Drama
- Movie Type: Period Film, Childhood Drama
- Themes: Fish Out of Water, Orphans, Teachers and Students
- Director: François Truffaut
- Main Cast: Jean-Pierre Cargol, François Truffaut, Jean Dasté, Françoise Seigner, Paul Ville
- Release Year: 1970
- Country: FR/IT
- Run Time: 85 minutes
Plot
Based on a real-life case study, recorded in Jean-Marc Gaspard Itard's 1806 volume Memoire et Rapport sur Victor de L'Aveyron, The Wild Child is spiritually in line with François Truffaut's other films about the pains of adolescence. Truffaut himself plays Dr. Jean Itard, a doctor working at Paris' Institute for the Deaf and Dumb. Itard takes on the challenge of Victor (Jean-Pierre Cargol), a nonverbal "wild boy" found abandoned in the woods. Realizing that the Institute's rather cruel methods may drive Victor further into himself, Dr. Itard brings the boy to his own home, hoping to establish a communication base with kindness and compassion. Once he has taught Victor how to listen and respond, Itard takes it upon himself to imbue the boy with a sense of morality. Adopting an austere cinematic technique (at times reminiscent of silent films), Truffaut unfolds his story with directness and simplicity. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie GuideReview
Often overlooked in the François Truffaut canon, L'Enfant Sauvage is clearly the work of the man who made The 400 Blows and Small Change. Like both those masterpieces, it is sensitively attuned to the rhythms of childhood, but it is also a more austere and almost formal work. Casting himself as Dr. Itard, the bachelor physician who takes in an abandoned boy and tries to civilize him, Truffaut the actor is appropriately stiff, and the film's view of "Victor," the title character, is one of detached sympathy. Truffaut the director's use of black-and-white cinematography and irises suggests an affinity for silent film, and indeed, much of the story's power derives from its imagery rather than dialogue. (That's of necessity, since the story focuses almost entirely on two characters, one of whom cannot speak.) The film's philosophical undercurrent -- is Itard, the man of science, going to have his way with the savage right out of the pages of Rousseau? -- are never pushed too hard, because, as he always does in his best work, Truffaut is more interested in the emotional content of his characters. Another plus is the use of Antonio Vivaldi's elegant, moving music to reinforce both those qualities in the film. ~ Tom Wiener, All Movie GuideCast
- Jean-Pierre Cargol - Victor
- François Truffaut - Itard
- Jean Dasté - Prof. Philippe Pinel
- Françoise Seigner - Guerin
- Paul Ville - Remy
Claude Miller - Monsieur Lemeri; Robert Cambourakis - Peasant; Tounet Cargol - Child at Farm; Eric Dolbert - Child at Farm; Frédérique Dolbert - Child at Farm; Pierre Fabre - Orderly at Institute; Jean Gruault - Visitor at Institute; Gitt Magrini - Peasant; Annie Miller - Mme. Lemeri; Nathan Miler - Lemeri Baby; Guillaume Schiffman - Child at Farm; Mathieu Schiffman - Child at Farm; Mlle. Theaudiere - Child at Farm; Ewa Truffaut - Child at Farm; Laura Truffaut - Child at Farm; Jean Mandaroux - Doctor Attending Itard; Jean-François Stévenin - Peasant; René Levert - Police Offical
