L'enfant sauvage (1970)

Director:

François Truffaut

Writers:

Jean Itard (novel)
François Truffaut (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

11 September 1970 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

At last an adult film to which you can take your children.

Plot:

1798. In a forrest, some countrymen catch a wild child who can not walk, speak, read neither write. The Doctor Itard is interested by the child...

Plot Keywords:

Manners | Directed By Star | Feral Child | Child Nudity | Institution

Awards:

5 wins

Cast

Jean-Pierre Cargol	...	Victor, l'enfant sauvage
François Truffaut	...	Le Dr Jean Itard
Françoise Seigner	...	Madame Guerin
Jean Dasté	...	Professor Philippe Pinel
Annie Miller	...	Madame Lemeri
Claude Miller	...	Monsieur Lemeri
Paul Villé	...	Remy
Nathan Miller	...	Baby Lemeri
Mathieu Schiffman	...	Mathieu
Jean Gruault	...	Visitor at Institute
Robert Cambourakis	...	Countryman
Gitt Magrini	...	Countrywoman
Jean-François Stévenin	...	Countryman
Laura Truffaut	...	Girl at farm
Eva Truffaut	...	Girl at farm

Also Known As:

The Wild Boy (UK)
The Wild Child (USA)

Runtime:

83 min

Country:

France

Language:

French | French Sign Language

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Finland:S | Sweden:11 | UK:U | USA:G | West Germany:12

Filming Locations:

Aubiat, Puy-de-Dôme, France

Company:

Les Films du Carrosse

Trivia:

The incidents based on true life, as reported by Dr. Itard and as shown by Truffaut, include the facts that: (1) Victor was captured by hunters. (2) Pinel did conclude and dismiss Victor as a helpless retarded child, "an incurable idiot." (3) Crowds of Parisians really did come to see the "Wild Boy of Aveyron." (4) Victor really did prefer the "O" sound, and accepted the name Victor, which in French has an accent on the "O" [veek-TOR]. (5) Dr. Itard appears to have been truly kind to the boy, as were Mme. Guerin and the neighbors. (6) Victor appears to have had great affection for Itard and Guerin, but was never interested in children of his own age.

Goofs:

Factual errors: In the US subtitles, the opening says that this is a true story that happened in 1978. It should have read 1798.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Day for Night: An Appreciation (2003) (V)

Highly recommended

If it weren't for several other strong works from Truffaut, this one would be my favorite. And it somes ways it is my favorite. The interaction between Victor and Dr. Itard was splendidly done. It was a joy simply to watch Truffaut on- screen directing the boy's progress, much like he must have done off-screen to get some very human reactions. At no point during this film did I think a scene was overdone or unnatural. It just seemed to flow from one small triumph to the next. My only complaint was that the whole experiment ended abrubtly, and so too did the movie. We are told by Dr. Itard that Victor is a extraordinary boy, but he has much training left to master. There were many points along the way where doubt lingered as to whether the wild child could be fully trained at all until the final scene. There we learn that Victor has a new home.

This movie was based on a true event which took place in the late 1700s. Unfortunately for the audience, the most pressing question of what became of Victor in his adult life is left unanswered. But fans of Francois Truffaut will find him even more engaging than in his role of Claude Lacombe in "Close Encounters of the Third Kind". The roles are similar in many ways. If Lacombe could have taken home the child-like aliens to instruct, I'm sure he would have been much like Dr. Itard.