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The Wild Child

The Wild Child

Drama · History · 1970

The true story of Victor of Aveyron. In a French forest circa 1798, an abandoned child — feral, filthy and mentally impaired — is found. Dr Jean Marc Gaspard Itard becomes interested in the case and patiently attempts to civilise the boy.

Movie details

The Wild Child

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

1970 Drama · History 1h 23m

Critical arithmetic

One number, for now.

TMDB

7.1 / 10

Community rating

The true story of Victor of Aveyron. In a French forest circa 1798, an abandoned child — feral, filthy and mentally impaired — is found. Dr Jean Marc Gaspard Itard becomes interested in the case and patiently attempts to civilise the boy.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over The Wild Child?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

François Truffaut

Written by

François Truffaut · Jean Gruault

Jean-Pierre Cargol

Jean-Pierre Cargol

Victor, l'Enfant Sauvage

François Truffaut

François Truffaut

Le Dr Jean Itard

Françoise Seigner

Françoise Seigner

Madame Guerin

Jean Dasté

Jean Dasté

Professor Philippe Pinel

A

Annie Miller

Madame Lemeri

Claude Miller

Claude Miller

Monsieur Lemeri

Paul Villé

Paul Villé

Remy

Court is in session

Put The Wild Child on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Auteur Devotee

“Ambition earns the room.”

The film reaches for consequence and scale, accepting the risk of seriousness instead of shrinking from it.

The prosecution The Popcorn Loyalist

“Importance has entered the chat.”

The production keeps announcing its significance, as though awards-season posture were proof of insight.