carnivalofsouls 'Maladolescenza' has the air of a dark fairy tale, with its child protagonists, forest setting, and the discovery of a castle's ruins. Yet at its core, the film is essentially an unusual psychosexual study of adolescents. Opening with a dream sequence employing the not-so-subtle metaphor of Fabrizio wrestling with his menacing hound, the film details his psychological persecution of Laura, the girl who has pledged her love to him, and his eventual romance with the equally malicious Sylvia. The film's psychological complexities do give the film merit, yet there's no doubting how unnecessarily exploitive the film is in its depiction of nudity and sex. The film's look relies more on its gorgeous locations rather than particular cinematographic skill, and there's no doubting the film's greatest asset is the creepy, children's choir-augmented soundtrack. With its odd dreamlike quality, the film is at best interesting, yet pales beside Louis Malle's surreal and brilliant 'Black Moon' from the same era. Certainly deserving of the art versus pornography debate, for unlike many banned films, Pasolini's 'Salo' or Larry Clark's 'Ken Park' for instance, the film is rather unremarkable from an artistic perspective. Cinema seems to be gradually losing its ability to shock, so perhaps 'Maladolescenza' should be admired for retaining that power thirty years after its release. However shock value is the one reason alone the film is memorable. The film does have its defenders. Yet so does Nazism.

wshake A typical 70s Italian coming of age film, original and good music, but with some quirks, interesting but not fantastic photography, poor and at times confused storyline (e.g. the role of the wolf-dog, and where does the boy come from?) with poor dialogue, nice ambiance.The reason it is still (relatively) well-known and sought after is probably the nude scenes (including typical 70s pseudo-coitus) involving an 11 and 13 year old girl with an older teenage boy (Eva Ionesco and Laura Wendel) - it is interesting from a socio-political point of view to see how these representations of very young adolescents was considered acceptable and normal in the whole of Europe (and US) 30 years ago, whereas now it is more than taboo.The story revolves round bullying of one girl (Laura) by the other two characters, and her discovery of sex, a quite accurate representation of an aspect teenage life. The character of Eva (Silvia) does not evolve to the very end of the film and already appears very versed in the erotic arts - there is no "coming of age" for her: she is a very vain young girl who is already aware of her sexual charms, but ultimately is just used and ends the film crying like the little girl she really still is. The boy is an utterly despicable bully, while Laura comes across as a very naive and weak victim.

EVOL666 I really don't know how to judge MALADOLESCENZA. Of course there is huge controversy surrounding the material shown, and for good reason. The relatively explicit sexualization of underage actors is going to be a point of contention for many viewers. Being a hard-line anti-child pornography advocate myself, it's hard to dismiss the explicit nudity and sexuality portrayed in this film. But as someone that takes a strong stance against child-exploitation - do I consider this film kiddie-porn? I have to honestly say no. Does it cross the line of "good taste"? Yes. Is there any "artistic-merit" in this film? Again, yes. I haven't been this torn by a film in a long time...Note that I saw the film with no subtitles or dubs, so I may have missed a bit in translation, but the basic storyline concerns a young boy and girl who begin "coming into their own" against the backdrop of an adultless forest. After their first sexual encounter, another young girl enters the picture that is a bit of a control-freak and the boy and the "new-girl" begin tormenting the "old-girl" by hurting her feelings in every way possible, while still pretending to be her friend...Personally, I can understand the controversy surrounding MALADOLESCENZA, but I can't honestly view the film as a piece of child pornography. I think that it's a harsh coming-of-age tale that deals with adolescent sexuality in an uncompromising and realistic (and even often beautiful) manner. I wasn't much older or more experienced than the actors in this film when I had my first sexual encounter - so I can relate to the film on a nostalgic level. Is it unnecessarily "graphic" - yes. I think that the same story could have been told with less nudity and sexualization, but it may not have had the same impact had those scenes been cut. I've seen many films that blur the lines between art and sleaze, and MALADOLESCENZA is one of the few that I truly found noteworthy. I think that along with the works of such directors as Larry (KIDS, KEN PARK) Clark - MALADOLESCENZA is a film that will probably be too harsh for "mainstream" viewing - but I still found it to be hauntingly beautiful yet strangely disturbing at the same time...8/10

HumanoidOfFlesh 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.