The Wild Child
Friday, December 5, 2008, 7:30 - 7:30 PM
321 Mercer Street, McCaw Hall, Seattle Center Box office opens half hour before the first show Showtimes and Information: 206.633.7151
$10.00 General Admission
$8.00 HENRY MEMBER / SIFF Supporter
(Show your membership card at the box office for this special discount)
The Wild Child screens at SIFF Cinema from Friday December 5 through Thursday December 11. Visit their website for showtimes and more information.
The Henry is delighted that SIFF will be screening The Wild Child during our new exhibition Adaptation. Guy Ben-Ner’s installation Wild Boy draws inspiration from Truffaut’s classic.
Inspired by an actual case in 18th Century France, Francois Truffaut’s poetic film tells the story of Victor, l’enfant sauvage — a child who was discovered living in the forest with wolves—and the doctor who adopted and tried to civilize him. Truffaut himself plays the young doctor, who works at a school for the deaf in Paris.
The naked, dirt-covered Victor is discovered by a woman picking berries in the woods and then captured by a group of peasants. Ferocious, unable to speak or even to walk upright, Victor is taken for an idiot and transferred to the school for experimentation. But Dr. Itard sees Victor’s spark of humanity, and dedicates himself to coax Victor into the human family. With tenderness and patience, the doctor tries to teach Victor to dress himself, to eat properly, and to recognize human speech and writing.
The doctor keeps a journal, and Truffaut narrates from the journal in English, weaving the film’s philosophical themes. Truffaut’s compassionate telling of this extraordinary story eschews showy melodrama to create a film that is endlessly fascinating and deeply moving.
Adaptation