I went into this movie blind. Yet, I had heard about this movie through osmosis, it has been referenced in mainstream media here and there with the reputation of being somewhat risqué. I was going in, expecting a highly artistic, maybe more sensual than average film. Reading the description on Netflix, I had the impression I would be witnessing the fascinating yet intimate tale of a young woman's coming-of-age story.
Aaaannd it turns out it is porn!
I should have known when the tile card announcing the director says Just Jaeckin.
I am not going to review the artistic merits of this film. Firstly, because of the genre, it is made only to excite the libidinal senses; its artistic quality does not go beyond that. The acting is bad, the story is so to speak inexistent. It is a succession of scenes of people having sex. Secondly because I stopped watching halfway through.
There are a few things I will comment on. The movie takes place in Thailand in the seventies. It reminded me of The Man with the Golden Gun. I gives the movie a certain old school cool, a certain old-world charm. And, I always find it pleasant when films or movies go to exotic locales. Even more so for a French film, it is nice when it does not take place in Paris. It is shame that the movie is lewd, because it looks, relatively speaking, good. Another thing I appreciate is that the film is adapted from a book. How delightfully quaint is that? I do not know if it is an erotic-book but in any case, it is hilarious that they adapted it in an adult film. As I mentioned, the movie's purpose does not need a story. You do not need a narrative for sex scenes. You can have one, but it is a luxury. It is the cherry on top. So, the idea that there was not only a narrative for this film but that it is actually derived from a book is in itself amazing. It would mean that there are characters in this movie that have lines of dialogue, coming from a script. Potentially it means that some actors maybe misspoke their lines or forgot them and they had to have another take? The whole movie's existence begs more questions than answers. Not merely why it exists, but how did it attain cultural significance? What is so special about this movie? If I had to guess, I think that it might have been for previous generations what Fifty Shades of Grey is for ours.
In the end, I am still yearning for the film I thought this would be. Or, I could envision a non-erotic behind the scenes of the making of this movie: how they got the script, the difficulty to film in Thailand, how Just Jaeckin found his calling etc... Anything really, except for what Emmanuelle actually is.
Aaaannd it turns out it is porn!
I should have known when the tile card announcing the director says Just Jaeckin.
I am not going to review the artistic merits of this film. Firstly, because of the genre, it is made only to excite the libidinal senses; its artistic quality does not go beyond that. The acting is bad, the story is so to speak inexistent. It is a succession of scenes of people having sex. Secondly because I stopped watching halfway through.
There are a few things I will comment on. The movie takes place in Thailand in the seventies. It reminded me of The Man with the Golden Gun. I gives the movie a certain old school cool, a certain old-world charm. And, I always find it pleasant when films or movies go to exotic locales. Even more so for a French film, it is nice when it does not take place in Paris. It is shame that the movie is lewd, because it looks, relatively speaking, good. Another thing I appreciate is that the film is adapted from a book. How delightfully quaint is that? I do not know if it is an erotic-book but in any case, it is hilarious that they adapted it in an adult film. As I mentioned, the movie's purpose does not need a story. You do not need a narrative for sex scenes. You can have one, but it is a luxury. It is the cherry on top. So, the idea that there was not only a narrative for this film but that it is actually derived from a book is in itself amazing. It would mean that there are characters in this movie that have lines of dialogue, coming from a script. Potentially it means that some actors maybe misspoke their lines or forgot them and they had to have another take? The whole movie's existence begs more questions than answers. Not merely why it exists, but how did it attain cultural significance? What is so special about this movie? If I had to guess, I think that it might have been for previous generations what Fifty Shades of Grey is for ours.
In the end, I am still yearning for the film I thought this would be. Or, I could envision a non-erotic behind the scenes of the making of this movie: how they got the script, the difficulty to film in Thailand, how Just Jaeckin found his calling etc... Anything really, except for what Emmanuelle actually is.