The Wild Boys (film)
The Wild Boys (French: les garçons sauvages) is a 2017 French film directed by Bertrand Mandico. Set in the beginning of the 20th century on the island of La Réunion, it is about five adolescent boys from wealthy families who commit a brutal crime and are in turn taken in by a Dutch Captain for rehabilitation on his dilapidated sailboat.[1][2][3] Notably, all the five male protagonists in the film were played by female actors.
The Wild Boys | |
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Directed by | Bertrand Mandico |
Produced by |
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Screenplay by | Bertrand Mandico |
Starring |
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Music by | Pierre Desprats |
Cinematography | Pascale Granel |
Edited by | Laure Saint-Marc |
Production company | Ecce Films |
Distributed by |
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Release date |
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Running time | 110 minutes |
Country | France |
Language | French |
Cast
- Vimala Pons - Jean-Louis
- Anaël Snoek - Tanguy
- Diane Rouxel - Hubert
- Mathilde Warnier - Sloane
- Pauline Lorillard - Romuald
- Sam Louwyck - Le Capitaine
- Elina Löwensohn - Séverin(e)
Release
The film premiered in the 74th Venice International Film Festival under the International Critics' Week and won the Mario Serandrei – Hotel Saturnia Award for the Best Technical Contribution.
Reception
The Wild Boys received mostly positive reviews from critics upon its release. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 89% based on 18 reviews.[4] On Metacritic it has a weighted average score of 64 out of 100, based on 5 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[5]
Cath Clarke of The Guardian called the film an "uninhibited, deeply bizarre sex-swap drama". She wrote: "Some might find the movie outrageously self-indulgent, but I was drawn into its hermetically sealed world of oddness – and Mandico pays attention to character to a degree that experimental film-makers often don’t bother with. [...] Mandico has made a wildly strange debut, striking enough to make you sit up and pay attention."[6] Andrew Todd of Birth.Movies.Death noted that "there's also a robust streak of eroticism running through the whole film." He wrote: "It’s the kind of eroticism that would probably make you feel dirty if you really interrogated what you were watching, but it’s achieved with such wide-eyed innocence and tactile texture that you never even think about doing so."[7]
Film magazine Cahiers du cinéma ranked The Wild Boys #1 in its 2018 list of Top Ten films.[8]
References
- Grant Watson (4 March 2019). "REVIEW: The Wild Boys (2017)". Fiction Machine. Retrieved 18 May 2019.
- Brady, Lois (2018-07-16). "Damn These Heels: The Wild Boys (Les garçons sauvages)". SLUG Magazine. Retrieved 2019-05-18.
- "Bertrand Mandico Blurs Sex And Fantasy In His Gender-Bending Debut 'The Wild Boys (Les Garçons Sauvages)'". www.intomore.com. Retrieved 2019-05-18.
- "The Wild Boys". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 2019-05-18.
- "The Wild Boys". Metacritic. Retrieved 2019-05-18.
- "The Wild Boys review – uninhibited, deeply bizarre sex-swap drama". The Guardian. Retrieved 2019-05-18.
- "FNC2017 Review: LES GARÇONS SAUVAGES' Seamen, Semen, And Semi-Men". Birth.Movies.Death. Retrieved 2019-05-18.
- "Cahiers du Cinéma: Top Ten Films of 2018". Year End Lists. Retrieved 2019-05-18.