Playing with Love (1977)

Pier Giuseppe Murgia's Maladolescenza or 'Spielen wir Lieben' caused a great deal of controversy on its 1977 release, which is understandable and yet frustrating, as the film in itself has a lot more going for it than the media at the time may have picked up on. The acting is strong all round, especially from Eva Ionesco, the plot is interesting and the characters are well-defined.The film centres around two children, Laura and Fabrizio, who meet up on holiday every year at the same place. This time they meet, however, both are reaching the age where sexual awareness creeps in, and therein lies the crux of the film. Laura dotes on Fabrizio, yet he is distant, cold, and often downright rude. The two spend time playing in the woods together, eventually stumbling upon a deserted 'town' in the forest, beneath which is a cave. Fabrizio persuades Laura to have sex with him in this cave. Afterwards, he continues to treat Laura poorly, yet she cannot seem to leave him alone.Soon after, Fabrizio meets another young girl, Silvia, and the two also form a sexual relationship, along with bullying and taunting Laura, at one stage chasing her while firing arrows at her. I don't want to give any more of the story away, so I'll leave it there.The film in itself had the potential to be an excellent look into the awkwardness of adolescence, yet for me it falls short. This is partly due to the sex scenes. While some are tasteful and help to advance the story, others are (especially towards the end of the film), overplayed, gratuitous and seedy. I can see how some were necessary for the development of the story, but the later shots are uncomfortably lingering, with some shots replayed for no apparent reason. It serves to cheapen what could have been a very powerful and innovative approach to a highly taboo subject. As it is, I can't help feeling that a little less would have meant a whole lot more.The characters themselves are very interesting. The differences between the two girls are marked; Laura starts out with a very young approach to life and ends up the most grown-up of the three. Silvia, on the other hand, enters the film with a very adult demeanour, yet has collapsed into pre-pubescent frailty by the end of the film. Fabrizio seems highly unlikeable and self-assured for the first two-thirds of the film, yet by the end he is revealed as lonely and desperate, which perhaps gives some reasoning to his actions. There are questions which were raised for me, such as why Laura continues to go to play with Fabrizio and Silvia after their terrible treatment of her, and why she is so attached to Fabrizio in the first place, especially as he is neither kind nor friendly to her at any stage in the film. Even at the end she still proclaims she would do anything for him, which could be looked at as the folly of youthful love, but I feel a better development would have been her rejecting Fabrizio in realisation that he is trapped in loneliness, a very fitting punishment for the acts he carried out against her. The locations for the film are beautiful, and the direction is well handled. The soundtrack had some cringe-worthy moments, but no worse or better than most Italian movies of the 70s. All-in-all, if you are looking for a challenging film, and don't mind putting in a little effort, there is a lot of food for thought to be had in this film. I so desperately wanted to rate it higher than a 6, but due to the over-statement of the sex scenes, the tone became cheap towards the end, which diluted the strong start for me. This isn't to say this film is unwatchable, quite the opposite, but what could, if handled carefully and sensitively, have been a masterpiece, is unfortunately condemned to be considered a cheap attempt at commercialising child pornography. This is a shame, as the themes of adolescent politics are ideas we can all relate to, and this film could have explored them a lot more intelligently were it not focusing its attention on the baser side of teenage life.

Don't let the controversy fools you. Let me tell you this movie has a lot more than nude scenes. Actually it has a VERY DEEP meaning: It's a perfect tale visually beautiful and with a great score.This is one of those rare films you want to stop in the first minutes because what is shown goes beyond you, but for some reason you keep watching. It leaves a mark on you. This film is not for everybody, not recommended for those close minded conservative people who think kids are completely innocent creatures with no sexual desire, no bad intentions, no nothing. I mean, you have to admit they are human beings too. Then you will be able to see what is in the core of this tale.The story is about 3 adolescents who spend their holidays in a forest. I can't help finding these 3 characters highly stereotypical, but this is necessary. Actually this is how the film works, because you can find these stereotypes in almost every person:Laura (Lara Wendel, 12): the lovely, sensitive and naive girl who is in love with someone who doesn't love her back, the girl who will do ANYTHING to be with the others, even if that means to be humiliated to death.Fabrizio (Martin Loeb, 18): the screwed-up boy who controls other people deliberately using his strength and self-confidence superiority, the selfish boy who doesn't give a damn for anybody, the guy who is bad and enjoy it.Silvia (Eva Ionesco, 11): the dream blonde coming from outer space, the arrogant and malicious girl who is aware of her extreme beauty and will use it to manipulate other people.The acting could have been better, but if you have in count these 3 kids were the only characters who carried the entire movie on their shoulders they were great. Personally I think it could have been better to get a younger actor for the Fabrizio character, someone closer to the girls age. By the way, from these characters Silvia is maybe the least important but on the other hand it is the only one who keeps its feet on the ground. Silvia is not so innocent as Laura and neither so nuts as Fabrizio.I will not extend too much about the story, since other posters have commented enough, but basically Fabrizio and Silvia spend all their days making fun of Laura and tormenting her through cruel games until the point of risking her life. Just to mention a couple, the scene where Laura is tied and with a snake crawling over her and the scene where she is being hunted by the other two bullies using REAL arrows! There are also cruel scenes with animals. All these scenes are raw, graphic, and really disturbing, way more disturbing than the sex scenes most people talk.As for the sex scenes, actually most of them are precisely to show the cruelty of Fabrizio and Silvia towards Laura, and not to show sex itself. Since Laura loves the boy, Silvia and Fabrizio make love not only to enjoy themselves but to torture poor Laura. This movie has been banned in some locations considered as child pornography, while actually it is not. Yes, I admit the sex scenes are disturbing and could have been done not so graphically, but they are not pornographic. They appear nude but you will not see genital joint close-ups, erections, things you would expect in a real XXX film, and their moves/poses are clumsy because they are unexperienced and obviously not doing it for real. The boldest thing you see is two kids lying down nude one on the other and rubbing or a kiss near the female pubic area. Most of all is left to your mind, out of camera frame. Even kisses in mouth are simulated with the position of the heads. In fact, this film is not even erotic because the sex scenes are made in a kind of an angelical dream, not trying to arouse the audience.Sadly many people cannot see beyond those sex scenes and are not able to discover the real meaning of the story: the real evil teenagers can be. Even some covers I have seen of this film make you think wrongly that this is a shallow erotic film. Actually this is a story about cruelty. You will feel sorry for Laura because she is the target, she is the third party, she is the one who always takes the back seat and is being hated with no reasons. But somehow near the end she is cruel too, hiding something important.But I will stop spoiling. If you have the possibility, give this film a try because it really worths it. In fact, I could even say the story is good for teens, maybe not the film because it is very graphic, but the story itself teaches you a lot about life and why we are so cruel as adults. After all, we all were children once.

OK, I have mixed feelings but I still gave it a 10. I gave it a 10 because the scenery and story was strong and hooks you easily. My mixed feelings come from the facts behind the actors- The movie was released 5/6/77. Eva was 11 yrs, i month old when it was RELEASED. Laura was 12 yr, 1 month. The boy was over 18. How can an 18 yr old boy/man legally have sex with a girl under 12 and one that was probably under 12 when the movie was being made? Ddi anyone else figure out their ages? Amazing. But still worth a look even if you get the edited version. Even some scary parts. Not bad for an old 70's flick!!I also have a 12 yr old daughter so I guess I am biased on my opinion there.

A young boy named Fabrizio and girl Laura must psychically explore their budding sexuality.Things get complicated when arrogant Silvia enters the picture & our young hero is drawn to her and Laura now feels ignored.They begin playing cruel games and tormenting her.For instance,during a game of hide and seek Laura finds them lying naked beneath a tree and she is forced to view their love scene."Spielen wir Liebe" aka "Maladolescenza" has to be one of the most controversial films ever made.When it came out it was banned or heavily cut in many countries as child pornography.The film contains plenty of surprisingly graphic nudity provided by Martin Loeb,Eva Ionesco and Lara Wendel.Both girls were twelve years old at the time of making the movie.At least the sex scenes are quite tasteful and thankfully simulated,but I still think that the film-makers crossed the line.The film was actually banned in Germany on 28th of July 2006 due to its content,so DVD will be no longer available for public consumption.