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49 of 54 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Great as soft porn, not so good as a movie., 15 April 2007
Emmanuelle , released in 1974 was the first soft core porn movie to achieve major box office success ,and this after the French government tried to have it banned. With utter predictability this ensured the film was an overnight success in it's native France , and it also went on to triumph in the USA where it was marketed as an art house movie which is a bit like marketing "Monty Python And The Holy Grail" as an historical movie , but there you go. Based on the controversial 1957 novel "Emmanuelle-The Joys Of A Woman " by Emmanuelle Arsan this is a film with some arresting erotic scenes but one which overall takes itself far too seriously .
The films flimsy plot-when does any porn film soft-core or otherwise have anything but mind-see's Emmanuelle (Sylvia Kristel) leave Paris to visit her diplomat husband in Bangkok , where she mixes with her husbands more sexually adventurous and liberated friends .Her husband encourages her to have extra-marital affairs and she starts by starting a lesbian relationship with archaeologist Bee(Marika Green)When this fizzles out she is placed under the tutelage of sex guru Mario( Alain Cuny) who explains to her how to explore her erotic desires.
That's about it really .Directed by Just Jaeckin , who also directed "The Story Of O" the movie features some truly eye catching cinematography using the exotic Thai locations and the performance of the striking natural beauty Kristel is surpringly good. This is the un-cut version so some of the films more contentious scenes, which have been victim to the censor before have been restored. The notorious nightclub smoking scene which is about as erotic as having your genitals poked with a lion fish is still there as, are the slightly regrettable scenes where Emmanuelle is coerced into things that she doesn't really want to do , which some will view as rape. Emmanuelle is far too plaint a character in this movie , it would have been preferable for her to gain some level of control and independence as the narrative progressed
The last third of the film degenerates badly with some excruciating dialogue and the introduction of some annoying characters and it's seems clear to me director and writers really had no idea where to take the film and the therefore the characters. Still , some of the scenes have retained a very pleasing erotic frisson and it has a certain charm and simplicity in this age of easily accessible internet porn , most of which makes "Emmanuelle" look like a "Flake" ad. The sequels that followed while allowing Kristel ,who bafflingly never followed up on her successes with this move franchise , to invest the character with more assertiveness were a succession of increasingly tawdry copies of the first. As soft-core porn Emmanuelle is probably as good as you will see .Judged purely as a piece of cinema it's not that great but most people will view it purely as the former so it does it's job very well.
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13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
cult yet sexy ... and very classic, 16 Feb 2003
Emmanuelle is a Lady of senses... She has an unique to seduce men and to get what she wants. A trip to the wonderful Bangkok will be the beggining to explore Emmanuelle fantasies and sexual experiences...This film caused quite a stir when it was released back in 1974. It's pretty tame by today's standards. It's sort of a cult classic for breaking many taboos, such as lesbianism, threesomes, and fairly rough sex. It usually gets favorable reviews due to being so-called groundbreaking, but if you examine it with a critical eye, it is fairly obvious this is a poor film. The story is anemic, with every scene just a set-up to show another sexual act. Sylvia Kristel became an international star as a result of this French screen adaptation of Emmanuelle Argan's controversial book. DVD version makes another reason the lovers of Emmanuelle to see it again. It is probably the best soft porno movie I ever saw. For beginners, it is like a manual for erotism.
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23 of 26 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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