In a forest, some countrymen catch a wild child who can not walk, speak, read or write. The Doctor Itard is interested by the child, and starts to educate him.
Director Francois Truffaut has created an absorbing film about the true-life tale of a young boy found living alone in the woods of France in the 1700s. Using actual journal entries, Truffaut not only directed and co-wrote the script with Jean Gruault, but also starred as the unflappable Doctor Jean-Marc-Gaspard Itard, the visionary who takes on the incredible task of civilizing The Wild Child. At The National Institute for the Deaf and Dumb in Paris, a barely clothed and dirty young boy is admitted. Found in a forest, the child is unable to speak, communicate or function in society. Christened Victor by the hospital staff, his case is taken up by Doctor Itard, a lone physician who has an unyielding dedication to re-integrating the lad into society. But the road to tame the beast is a rocky one and Itard will have to work tirelessly to teach Victor how to re-claim his place in the world even if it means staking his reputation on it.
Set in 1798 in the Georgian era.
The story is essentially true, drawn from an actual case in 18th Century France, and Truffaut tells it simply and movingly. It becomes his most thoughtful statement on his favorite subject: The way young people grow up, explore themselves, and attempt to function creatively in the world. Because Truffaut’s narration is in English and the boy speaks hardly at all, there are very few (French) subtitles to be read and the movie is completely accessible even to, say, third or fourth-graders. I imagine most children would find it completely fascinating. – Roger Ebert
Starring Francois Truffaut, Jean-Pierre Cargol, Franoise Seigner, Jean Dast, Annie Miller.
Rated G