This film is not unique in the French cinema;it belongs to a long tradition of country stories set in the 19th century :in the grand tradition of such movies as Truffaut's "L'Enfant Sauvage" ,Tavernier's "Le Juge Et L'Assasssin" or Allio's "Moi Pierre Rivière Ayant Egorgé Ma Mère Ma Soeur Et Mon Frère " and some other minor works.
"Au Fond Des Bois" is perhaps disturbing to some,but it does not improve much on them;it's odd it did not get a PG 12 whereas it contains rape and nudity !The problem of the film is that it does not devote enough time to "why?";the two actors ,not very attractive,are not bad for all that ,but ,and of course in the case of the girl,they do not display enough ambiguity :after some time ,she seems to appreciate her mate and it seems that she finds that quite romantic ,which the last sequences reinforce.The wild boy may possess magnetic powers ,a la Rasputin, but they are hardly necessary for a while :only the burn can pass for an argument ,although the heroine might be a glutton for punishment!The depiction of the girl's milieu leaves something to be desired too:the father,the good doctor,might be over possessive and she might have been brought up a sexually repressed girl.
The movie essentially consists of wandering and having sex in beautiful landscapes ;it's not bad,but not a movie to be seen twice.