Au fond des bois (2010)

Following the arrival of a deaf and mute vagrant, a young woman, Josephine, disappears from her family estate. She follows him deep into the woods even though she seems to be disgusted by him, but does Josephine want to follow him?

Director:

Benoît Jacquot

Writers:

Julien Boivent, Marcela Iacub (chronicles)

Stars:

Isild Le Besco, Nahuel Pérez Biscayart, Jérôme Kircher

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Isild Le Besco	...	Joséphine
Nahuel Pérez Biscayart	...	Timothée
Jérôme Kircher	...	Capitaine Langlois
Bernard Rouquette	...	Docteur Hughes
Mathieu Simonet	...	Paul
Jean-Pierre Gos	...	Docteur Corvot
Luc Palun	...	Coudroyer
Jean-Claude Bolle-Reddat	...	Le procureur
Jean-Marc Stehlé	...	Le forgeron
Yvette Peyremorte	...	La femme Coudroyer
Adrien Kauffmann	...	Cyprien
Valérie Soyez	...	Marie - la voisine Coudroyer
Tiphaine Benoit	...	Doris - la fille de Marie
Madeleine Celis	...	Françoise
Philippe Dofny	...	Le président

Storyline

In 1865, Timothee, a wanderer, arrives in a village in southern France pretending he is deaf and mute. There, he is struck by the beauty of a young woman, Josephine, and asks for hospitality at the house of Dr Hughes, her father. At dinner, he makes strange tricks inducing weird reactions in Josephine. The next day, he comes back when she is alone and makes her fall in a state of hypnotic lethargy before taking advantage of her. Overwhelmed by his powerful hypnotic gift, she follows him even though she seems to be disgusted and afraid of him. He takes her deep into the woods and continues to abuse her until he is arrested and tried. But how did Josephine accept to follow him?

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Plot Keywords:

telepathy | hypnotic possession | rape | rape by hypnosis | prison cell | 

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Genres:

Drama

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Details

Official Sites:

Les Films du Losange [France]

Country:

France Germany

Language:

French

Release Date:

13 October 2010 (France)

Also Known As:

Deep in the Woods

Filming Locations:

Le Crotoy, Somme, France

Company Credits

Production Co:

Ciné@,Passionfilms,Albertine Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

102 min

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

User Reviews

The wild boy and the maiden.

This film is not unique in the French cinema;it belongs to a long tradition of country stories set in the 19th century :in the grand tradition of such movies as Truffaut's "L'Enfant Sauvage" ,Tavernier's "Le Juge Et L'Assasssin" or Allio's "Moi Pierre Rivière Ayant Egorgé Ma Mère Ma Soeur Et Mon Frère " and some other minor works.

"Au Fond Des Bois" is perhaps disturbing to some,but it does not improve much on them;it's odd it did not get a PG 12 whereas it contains rape and nudity !The problem of the film is that it does not devote enough time to "why?";the two actors ,not very attractive,are not bad for all that ,but ,and of course in the case of the girl,they do not display enough ambiguity :after some time ,she seems to appreciate her mate and it seems that she finds that quite romantic ,which the last sequences reinforce.The wild boy may possess magnetic powers ,a la Rasputin, but they are hardly necessary for a while :only the burn can pass for an argument ,although the heroine might be a glutton for punishment!The depiction of the girl's milieu leaves something to be desired too:the father,the good doctor,might be over possessive and she might have been brought up a sexually repressed girl.

The movie essentially consists of wandering and having sex in beautiful landscapes ;it's not bad,but not a movie to be seen twice.