Gene Siskel Film Center
164 N State St
312.846.2600
This event has passed.
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The Wild Child
- When
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Dec 19, 2008 – Dec 29, 2008
Daily (schedule)
- Where
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- Price
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$9
- Links
François Truffaut's exquisite L'Enfant Sauvage is based on the true(ish) story of the Wild Boy of Aveyron, an 18th-century feral child who emerged from the French woodside nonverbal, naked, and completely unsocialized. Although he grew up isolated from the influence of civilization, a young, idealistic doctor (played in the film by Truffaut himself) attempts to tame the primitive, animal-like boy by teaching him language and behavioral skills — and human emotion. The simple, black-and-white film examines the spotty history of French civilizing missions and takes up Enlightenment themes of the noble savage and innate childhood innocence. But, mostly, it brims with understated dignity, as the confused youngster struggles to understand and acclimate to his new surroundings.
