The Wild Child 1970

The film commences with a declaration: “This story is authentic: it opens in 1798 in a French forest.”

On a fateful summer day in 1798, an 11 or 12-year-old boy named Jean-Pierre Cargol is discovered wandering naked in a secluded forest in Aveyron, located in southern France. A startled woman spots him, screams in terror, and alerts nearby hunters. They set off in pursuit of what they believe to be a wild child, unleashing a pack of dogs to track him down. As the hounds corner him, he scrambles up a tree but eventually tumbles to the ground, fighting off the attackers and wounding one in the process before desperately seeking refuge in a hole. The relentless dogs, guided by his scent, ultimately uncover his hiding spot, forcing him out with smoke to suffocate him.

Once he is captured, the boy’s wild existence and lack of communication skills suggest he has spent years isolated from civilization. Transported to Paris, he is initially placed in a school meant for “deaf-mutes.” However, the compassionate Dr. François Truffaut studies him and concludes that he is neither deaf nor an “idiot,” as some of his peers hastily judge. Instead, Dr. Itard, believing that the boy’s unusual behavior stems from his harrowing upbringing, becomes determined to provide him with an education.

Taking the boy, whom he ultimately names Victor, into his care, Dr. Itard relocates him to his home on the outskirts of Paris. With the unwavering support of his housekeeper, Françoise Seigner, Victor embarks on a transformative journey, gradually learning to socialize and mastering the basics of language through the kind and patient guidance of his new guardian.