L'enfant sauvage (1970) The Wild Child USA Der Wolfsjunge Austria / West Germany El pequeo salvaje Spain

Ena agrimi stin poli Greece Il ragazzo selvaggio Italy Kesytn Finland O Garoto Selvagem Brazil O Menino Selvagem Portugal The Wild Boy UK Vahsi gen Turkey (Turkish title) Vilden Sweden http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0064285/ The Wild Child (French: L'Enfant sauvage, released in the United Kingdom as The Wild Boy) (1970) is a French film by director Franois Truffaut Jean-Pierre Cargol ... Victor, l'enfant sauvage Franois Truffaut ... Le Dr Jean Itard Franoise Seigner ... Madame Guerin Jean Dast ... Professor Philippe Pinel Annie Miller ... Madame Lemeri Claude Miller ... Monsieur Lemeri Paul Vill ... Remy Nathan Miller ... Baby Lemeri Mathieu Schiffman ... Mathieu Jean Gruault ... Visitor at Institute Robert Cambourakis ... Countryman Gitt Magrini ... Countrywoman Jean-Franois Stvenin ... Countryman Laura Truffaut ... Girl at farm Eva Truffaut ... Girl at farm In 1798, a feral boy is discovered outside the town of Aveyron, France. His orig ins are unknown, but a scar on his neck suggests that he was possibly stabbed by his parents when abandoned as a young child. Diagnosed as mentally impaired, he is relegated to an asylum. A young doctor named Jean Itard, who specializes in ear-nose-throat physiology and the education of deaf-mutes, becomes convinced th at the boy has normal mental capacity, but that his development was hindered by lack of contact with society. He brings the boy home, names him Victor, and begi ns an arduous attempt at education over several years. Francois Truffaut s The Wild Child (1970) reflects the director s lifelong fascinati on with childhood and his deep commitment to reforms in child-rearing. While his celebrated feature debut The Four Hundred Blows (1959) depicted a semi-fictiona lized version of his own adolescence, for this film Truffaut turned to a widelystudied historical case that he encountered in a 1964 review of a book on feral children by Lucas Malson. That book has been translated into English under the t itle Wolf Children and the Problem of Human Nature and includes translations of Jean Itard s two reports (from 1799 and 1806) on the wild boy of Aveyron. Jean Itard (1774-1838) carried out his work against a background of recent philo sophical and scientific debates about the relationship between human nature, the natural order and society, including the writings of Jean-Jacques Rousseau and David Hume, and the taxonomy of Carl Linnaeus. In that respect, one of his goals in educating Victor was to promote his theory that man is only what he is made t o be by his circumstances. Although his progress with Victor was ultimately limit

ed--Victor learned to execute a few basic tasks but never learned fully how to s peak--Itard s observations contributed greatly to the education of deaf-mutes in g eneral and even influenced the educational theories of Maria Montessori. According to biographers Antoine de Baecque and Serge Toubiana, after Truffaut h ad decided to film the project and assigned the script to Jean Gruault, he viewe d films such as Arthur Penn s The Miracle Worker (1962), conducted further researc h on the education of deaf-mutes and even observed an actual autistic child. Som e 2,500 boys were considered for the role of Victor. Truffaut finally decided on Jean-Pierre Cargol, who was of Romani (Gypsy) origin and was related to a noted guitarist. It is worth noting that Truffaut listed Cargol first in the credits as the ultimate gesture of respect. For the role of the doctor Truffaut decided to cast himself, as he explained in a 1970 interview: The Wild Child is a two-character film. It seemed to me that th e essential job in this film was not to manage the action but to concern oneself with the child. I therefore wanted to play the role of Dr. Itard myself in orde r to deal with him myself and thus avoid going through an intermediary. Admittedl y, Truffaut s performance is not the film s strongest suit compared to Cargol or its luminous black-and-white cinematography (by Nestor Almendros) and scrupulous pe riod detail. However, in retrospect he was probably correct in his intuition tha t he needed to play the doctor in order to elicit the best performance from Carg ol. After the film s release, Alfred Hitchcock sent the following telegram to Truffaut : I SAW THE WILD CHILD WHICH I FIND MAGNIFICENT PLEASE SEND ME AN AUTOGRAPH BY TH E ACTOR WHO PLAYS THE DOCTOR HE IS TERRIFIC [ ] Hitchcock knew very well, of course , the actor who plays the doctor. Film critic Roger Ebert gave the film a positive review and discussed the film's theme is one of Truffaut's favorites. He wrote, "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 creati vely in the world...Truffaut places his personal touch on every frame of the fil m. He wrote it, directed it, and plays the doctor himself. It is an understated, compassionate performance, a perfect counterpoint to Jean-Pierre Cargol's feroc ity and fear...So often movies keep our attention by flashy tricks and cheap mel odrama; it is an intellectually cleansing experience to watch this intelligent a nd hopeful film." The staff at Variety magazine also praised the drama, and wrote, "This is a luci d, penetrating detailing of a young doctor's attempt to civilize a retarded boy found living in the woods in Southern France in the 18th century. Though based o n a true case [Jean Itard's Memoire et Rapport sur Victor de L'Aveyron, publishe d in 1806], it eschews didactics and creates a poetic, touching and dignified re lationship between the doctor and his savage charge...It progresses slowly but a bsorbingly. 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 i n black-and-white rates kudos." French Syndicate of Cinema Critics 1971 Won Critics Award Best Film Franois Truffaut Laurel Awards 1971 3rd place Golden Laurel Best Foreign Film National Board of Review, USA 1971 Won NBR Award Best Director Franois Truffaut

1971 Won NBR Award Best Foreign Language Film France. National Society of Film Critics Awards, USA 1971 Won NSFC Award Best Cinematography Nstor Almendros Also for Ma nuit chez Ma ud (1969).