L'enfant sauvage 1970

Vincent Canby, New York Times: The movie that looks so simple on its surface is dense with such questions, with feelings expressed obliquely, and with moments of tenderness that are as surprising in the film as they are in Itard's formal reports. Read more

Jonathan Rosenbaum, Chicago Reader: This is one of Francois Truffaut's best middle-period films (1969), albeit one of his darkest and most conservative. Read more

Joe Morgenstern, Wall Street Journal: Read more

Ty Burr, Boston Globe: Nearly four decades after its release, The Wild Child remains startling for its humane clarity, for Nestor Almendros's brilliant black-and-white photography, and for the sense that Truffaut is achieving filmmaking mastery on a very small scale. Read more

Kevin Thomas, Los Angeles Times: An enduring film of enchanting and provocative revelation. Read more

Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer: The Wild Child is fascinating not only for its Tarzan-like true-life story, but also for what it says about the process of nurturing and educating children, and the tools we use -- language, discipline, affection -- to do so. Read more

Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: It becomes his most thoughtful statement on his favorite subject: The way young people grow up, explore themselves, and attempt to function creatively in the world. Read more

St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Read more

Time Out: A deeply moving film. Read more

Variety: Everybody connected with this unusual, off-beat film made in black-and-white rates kudos. Read more

Nicolas Rapold, Village Voice: Rather than present a cliched fall from grace, Truffaut elicits ambivalence by closely tracking the Enlightened scientist's optimism; after the fascination, our inchoate sadness seeps in. Read more

Ann Hornaday, Washington Post: Nearly 40 years after its initial release, Francois Truffaut's The Wild Child (L'Enfant Sauvage) still manages to cast its haunting, poetic spell. Read more