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Poster for Playing with Love

Playing with Love

1977 · 94 min

A slow, unsettling plunge into childish cruelty and sexual awakening that grows increasingly oppressive and ends in shocking violence.

Directed by
Pier Giuseppe Murgia
Genres
Drama
Starring
Lara Wendel, Éva Ionesco, Martin Loeb
Overview
Laura and Fabrizio have been meeting every summer in the forest by her parent's summer home. Fabrizio is a solitary boy with only his dog for company; Laura a sweet but unconfident child. This summer new aspects enter into their story as both are growing up. Laura is falling in love with Fabrizio, while he displays a new sexual awareness of her masked by his malice. Things develop further when they meet Sylvia who, unlike the innocent Laura, is confident and assertive. Fabrizio develops a fascination with her, eventually bribing Laura to fetch her to the forest to join them in play.

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In the UKNo streaming, rental or purchase options known.
Directed by
Pier Giuseppe Murgia
Genres
Drama
Starring
Lara Wendel, Éva Ionesco, Martin Loeb
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How it feels

Written by AI. It can be wrong.

Tone
  • darkstrength 3 of 3
  • bleakstrength 2 of 3
  • melancholicstrength 2 of 3
  • tensestrength 2 of 3
Pacing
slow-burn, 1 of 4, from slow-burn to relentless
Attention
demanding, 4 of 4, from background-friendly to demanding
Themes
  • coming-of-age
  • identity
  • obsession
  • betrayal
  • violence
Places
  • countryside
  • single country house
Era
contemporary
Audience
adult
Form
  • twist ending
Content intensity
  • Gore mild
  • Language mild
  • Violence strong
  • Sex strong
All scales, 0 to 10
Scales, 0 to 10
ScaleValue0 to 10
Action2
Horror4
Humour1
Realism8
Romance3
Tension7
Darkness9
Complexity6
Emotional weight9

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Where to watch in the UK

No UK streaming, rental or purchase options are known.

Streaming data from JustWatch.TMDB

Details

Genres
drama
Directed by
Pier Giuseppe Murgia
Written by
Peter Berling, Pier Giuseppe Murgia
Starring
Lara Wendel, Éva Ionesco, Martin Loeb
Runtime
94 min
Country
Italy, Germany
Languages
Italian

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