Rarely has a foreign film of such magnitude was so eagerly anticipated in America as when the movie "Emmanuelle" was released in the summer of 1974. Advance publicity had done the trick. The film was based on the controversial and quite scandalous 1957 novel by the pseudonymous Emmanuelle Arsan that was banned by the French Government and the Prime Minister of France not to mention several Asian countries where the film was not seen until 20 years later. But in spite having it banned,it was a shock only to see it become France's all-time box office champ. Even to this day,and in spite the film's 30th Anniversary,Emmanuelle is considered to be among the best soft-core adult films ever made and since then it has continued to draw well long after the success of it ran here in the states,despite negative reviews from critics and equally word of mouth,is one of the true mysteries of the cinema,and a protégé of what the 1970's adult cinema was to become. For one the film was a overnight sensation,and from this film spawned a record number of 13 Emmanuelle "sequel" films,each starring different actresses,ranging from Emmanuelle Arsan,Laura Gemser,Holly Sampson,etc; a late-night adult cable series based on the character,not to mention several "hard-core" adult films based on this too that went straight to video,and to this the series has become second to James Bond as one of the longest-running series in the history of the cinema,and as of this writing the Emmanuelle series is still going strong,30 years later.
But getting back to "Emmanuelle" the simple formula which was from the original and was to be used again in several of sequels of the series has the type of a beautiful "free-spirited" woman who seeks her identity through various sexual encounters with everyone and almost everywhere and with everyone in the cast;lots of stripping and nude sunbathing,full-frontal nudity,graphic sexual content that has acts of sodomy(where there is no protection of sexually transmitted diseases) including several acts of homosexuality between the men and the women(lesbianism),incompetent males who want nothing else than a piece of a woman's flesh and to do what they want with her,and extreme close-ups of women in the throes of sexual ecstasy with heavy breathing on the soundtrack-but it is done with lush music and plush sets. Unlike the other foreign films that go by the "soft-core" method,the simple formula for Emmanuelle would be used again in several films including another French erotica classic,"The Story Of O",the next year,1975.
Was "Emmanuelle" a surefire moneymaker at America's reveal houses? When this film was released in 1974,the audience that were going to see this film weren't exactly popular with couples,but it was the men that were going back to see this film not once,but many times since the majority of the viewing audience were males,and their dates since the women in the audience may find this to be too shocking since it was very degrading to females. The film's distributor,Columbia Pictures-at the time was facing bankruptcy and was still smarting from one of the biggest flops with the musical disaster,the remake of "Lost Horizon" (1973)-had thought enough of Emmanuelle to make it the studio's second film to be "X-rated",and the first since "Bob,Carol,Ted and Alice"(1970) which was not very successful. Realizing that there was a major audience who wanted to sample a sex film,the studio(Columbia)wisely booked Emmanuelle into first-run theaters,making it a bona fide hit for the studio,which at the time no one particularly liked it since the French were preferring to it as "a masterpiece of eroticism".
The film gave an unknown Dutch-British actress Sylvia Kristel,who was very young when this film came out and made her an overnight sensation,which made her a major movie star,who would go on to star in three more "Emmanuelle" films. However,Sylvia Kristel is surprisingly good in a bad film;her lack of inhibitions,particularly in several scenes in the way she dresses,has an undeniably erotic effect and from there the she really shines in her performance despite the negative reviews. To also note that Kristel(the first Emmanuelle)is one of the few actresses to make to jump from sex films to mainstream films that are rated "R","PG",and "G". Most recently,out of the 13 films that were made based on "Emmanuelle" that series to this day is still going strong.
Happy 30th Anniversary-Emmanuelle!
But getting back to "Emmanuelle" the simple formula which was from the original and was to be used again in several of sequels of the series has the type of a beautiful "free-spirited" woman who seeks her identity through various sexual encounters with everyone and almost everywhere and with everyone in the cast;lots of stripping and nude sunbathing,full-frontal nudity,graphic sexual content that has acts of sodomy(where there is no protection of sexually transmitted diseases) including several acts of homosexuality between the men and the women(lesbianism),incompetent males who want nothing else than a piece of a woman's flesh and to do what they want with her,and extreme close-ups of women in the throes of sexual ecstasy with heavy breathing on the soundtrack-but it is done with lush music and plush sets. Unlike the other foreign films that go by the "soft-core" method,the simple formula for Emmanuelle would be used again in several films including another French erotica classic,"The Story Of O",the next year,1975.
Was "Emmanuelle" a surefire moneymaker at America's reveal houses? When this film was released in 1974,the audience that were going to see this film weren't exactly popular with couples,but it was the men that were going back to see this film not once,but many times since the majority of the viewing audience were males,and their dates since the women in the audience may find this to be too shocking since it was very degrading to females. The film's distributor,Columbia Pictures-at the time was facing bankruptcy and was still smarting from one of the biggest flops with the musical disaster,the remake of "Lost Horizon" (1973)-had thought enough of Emmanuelle to make it the studio's second film to be "X-rated",and the first since "Bob,Carol,Ted and Alice"(1970) which was not very successful. Realizing that there was a major audience who wanted to sample a sex film,the studio(Columbia)wisely booked Emmanuelle into first-run theaters,making it a bona fide hit for the studio,which at the time no one particularly liked it since the French were preferring to it as "a masterpiece of eroticism".
The film gave an unknown Dutch-British actress Sylvia Kristel,who was very young when this film came out and made her an overnight sensation,which made her a major movie star,who would go on to star in three more "Emmanuelle" films. However,Sylvia Kristel is surprisingly good in a bad film;her lack of inhibitions,particularly in several scenes in the way she dresses,has an undeniably erotic effect and from there the she really shines in her performance despite the negative reviews. To also note that Kristel(the first Emmanuelle)is one of the few actresses to make to jump from sex films to mainstream films that are rated "R","PG",and "G". Most recently,out of the 13 films that were made based on "Emmanuelle" that series to this day is still going strong.
Happy 30th Anniversary-Emmanuelle!