Bertrand Mandico’s debut feature is audacious in both narrative and visual terms, a steamy fable of gender transformation and empowerment told with striking imagery that switches without warning from grainy black-and-white to surrealistic color. The plot is a reverse spin on Lord of the Flies: a group of privileged boys at a posh prep school rape and kill their literature teacher (Nathalie Richard) while performing a scene from Macbeth. As punishment they are transported to a remote island—and viciously brutalized on the voyage by a sadistic captain—that turns out to be a lush tropical paradise, rich in foliage with tantalizingly suggestive shapes that exude milk-white liquids that when drunk change the boys into women: graphically, as their male appendages drop off and breasts appear (the boys have been all along rather convincingly played by actresses). This transformation is emotional as well as physical, and the inability to morph fully is considered a horrible failure. The Wild Boys loses some of its energy toward the close, as an ethereal Earth-mother figure takes center stage to declaim opaquely on the theme of the magical taming of macho cruelty. But it is also clear from the very first scene—a prologue on the island in which one of the frenzied boys encounters a dog with a human face—that this will be a very strange film, one that defiantly exults in not being for everyone. But for those extremely adventurous viewers who can stomach provocative images that fall midway between the titillating and the repulsive, this is recommended. (F. Swietek)
The Wild Boys
Altered Innocence, 110 min., in French w/English subtitles, not rated, DVD: $21.99, Blu-ray: $24.99, Dec. 11 Volume 34, Issue 1
The Wild Boys
Star Ratings
As of March 2022, Video Librarian has changed from a four-star rating system to a five-star one. This change allows our reviewers to have a wider range of critical viewpoints, as well as to synchronize with Google’s rating structure. This change affects all reviews from March 2022 onwards. All reviews from before this period will still retain their original rating. Future film submissions will be considered our new 1-5 star criteria.
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