Maladolescencia Maladolescenza 1977 De Pier Giuseppe Murgia //free\\ -

Directed by Pier Giuseppe Murgia, Maladolescenza (1977)—also known as Puppy Love Spielen wir Liebe

A metaphor for the end of childhood (“the cave represents the womb or tomb of innocence”).
A literal murder covered up by upper-class privilege (Fabrizio’s family has political connections).
A dream sequence (Laura’s voiceover continues after the event, suggesting unreality).

Pastoral Symbolism: The forest is filmed as an Edenic paradise—a space outside law and time. Cinematographer Luigi Kuveiller (famed for Deep Red) bathes the scenery in golden hour light, creating a painterly aesthetic reminiscent of Botticelli or Giorgione’s The Tempest. Nature is both a womb and a tomb.
The Cruelty of Eros: The film explicitly rejects the notion of innocent childhood sexuality. Instead, it posits that sexual awakening is inherently tied to power, domination, and sadism. Fabrizio represents the Nietzschean will-to-power, while Laura embodies sentimental vulnerability. Their coupling is not love but a predatory ritual.
Allegorical Framework: The characters are less realistic adolescents than archetypes. Fabrizio is the fallen angel, Laura the sacrificial virgin, and Silvia the hermaphroditic trickster. The film’s tragedy lies in the impossibility of remaining in the garden; to know pleasure is to know death.

The scenes of nudity, simulated (and arguably unsimulated) sexual contact, and psychological duress involving these children cannot be separated from the director’s authority. Murgia, who defended the film as a necessary study of "the monster that sleeps in every child," replicates the very predatory logic his narrative purports to critique. The camera does not observe the children’s cruelty with detached neutrality; it often lingers with a fetishistic intimacy that aligns the viewer’s gaze with Fabrizio’s controlling eye. maladolescencia maladolescenza 1977 de pier giuseppe murgia