From my summary you might think this is a fictional story. Well, it isn't exactly. Instead, the movie is BASED on the true story of Victor, a feral child that was discovered roaming the countryside in late 18th century France.
Much of the movie is true BUT somehow Truffault succumbed to the Hollywood idea that true-life stories need to be changed to make them more palatable to the general public. This is very odd indeed considering Truffaut was a founding "New Wave" director--a group who usually avoided clichés and Hollywood's style. Unfortunately for the real Victor, his life did NOT end positively (as the movie strongly implies) but he remained functionally retarded through his SHORT life.
However, I still recommend the movie and I use the film in my high school psychology class. Despite much of it being subtitled, I have found that high schoolers enjoyed the film very much. It also gave us the opportunity to compare and contrast the true story with the film. In particular, I loved how this film showed the very detached and clinical manner in which Victor was raised--it really pulled at your heart and made you feel for this poor kid.
Much of the movie is true BUT somehow Truffault succumbed to the Hollywood idea that true-life stories need to be changed to make them more palatable to the general public. This is very odd indeed considering Truffaut was a founding "New Wave" director--a group who usually avoided clichés and Hollywood's style. Unfortunately for the real Victor, his life did NOT end positively (as the movie strongly implies) but he remained functionally retarded through his SHORT life.
However, I still recommend the movie and I use the film in my high school psychology class. Despite much of it being subtitled, I have found that high schoolers enjoyed the film very much. It also gave us the opportunity to compare and contrast the true story with the film. In particular, I loved how this film showed the very detached and clinical manner in which Victor was raised--it really pulled at your heart and made you feel for this poor kid.