Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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29 of 32 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A classic work in its time, 6 Nov 2004
In its day a shocking breakthrough, 'Emmanuelle' was one of the first soft porn movies to go legitimate and be treated to release in High Street cinemas. It aspired to an art house status, its soft focus photography giving it a dreamy, haunting feel. Sylvia Kristel is its eminently desirable star: she appears in her first scene clad in a simple silk wrap, a bored French housewife, young enough to have retained a firm body and a resolute innocence, yet sophisticated enough to model in the nude and carry herself with an elegance verging on criminality. Life - and morality - for her are as soft-focused as the photography.Her husband, meanwhile, is extolling her virtues as a lover to his best friend, explaining she was a virgin when he met her ... but look what she's learned since. His work takes him to Thailand, Emmanuelle follows. There, life is cheap, sex is free, and Emmanuelle soon meets up with a coterie of equally bored, equally desirable women who introduce her to a broad menu of sex, from masturbating in a hanging chair to being corrupted by an ancient lothario. "Emmanuelle" has all the classic elements of erotica - voyeurism, sex with a stranger, sex on a plane, women on women, use of force, the notion of sexual innocence being liberated, the predatory older woman, the predatory older man. There is a lot of nudity ... but tastefully done. The sex is soft-porn - it is very erotic, very amusing, very soft-focus, at times quite beautifully done ... despite the dated feel of the soundtrack. "Emmanuelle" presents sex as poetry, as adventure. It embodies a libertarian philosophy - only love can heal the world ... so let's have sex. It offers a valuable health lesson - a truly healthy human being is one enjoying frequent orgasms! A film to be enjoyed on your own ... or with a partner ... or two. And nobody, but nobody, ever looked better in a baseball cap than Sylvia Kristel.
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2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Enjoyable film , but the book was better, 11 Jul 2006
Basing the film on the banned 1957 novel by Emmanuelle Arsan, Just Jaeckin made Emmanuelle, a story about a woman who is part innocent, part temptress, all sensuous! When the film was originally released, many womens lib groups and film censors tried to ban it, which in the end fuelled it's success at the french box offices. Emmanuelle has just moved to Thailand with her husband, but when she becomes increasingly bored with the slothful lifestyle of the men and women around her, she decides to taste the erotic joys of the East. Alongside the sharp Marie Anne, the lustful Ariane de Saynes and the learned Mario, Emmanuelle throws away the pleasures of love and slips into a world of unbound eroticism.
When i first seen the film i did not particularly like it, but with a couple more viewings it began to grow on me. for all the lovers of the book, like myself, i am afraid you may be dissappointed with the characters, as they appear somewhat different as they did in the book. one thing which annoyed me was that sylvia Kristel had a short hairstyle, in the book Emmanuelle was described as having a long flowing black mane. but if you can look past these faults, there is a film underneath which is actually rather enjoyable in its own right. I recommend watching this film and i strongly recommend the sequel emmanuelle 2.
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10 of 24 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
controversial erotic classic, 11 Nov 2000
One of Just Jaekins erotic classics (don't forget Story of O). Not as controversial as Story of O which has just been released on video in the UK and recently shown of FilmFour, this film caused a particular fury among the censors when released in 1974 for it's opium den rape scene while her partner looks on smilingly. this scene, until it's day has been banned. Fortunately this film still stands the test of time and makes great retro viewing also importantly for it's dreamy music score. A good film to recommend for extreme cinema fans and fans of Sylvia kristel. Good.
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