The most successful erotic classic of the 20th century worldwide

Detailed Synopsis
In Bangkok, Emmanuelle (Sylvia Kristel), the young wife of a French diplomat, enters the world of sensuality and sexual passion. Guided by the mature Mario (Alain Cuny), and with the complicity of her husband (Daniel Sarky), she discovers the delights of eroticism and lets herself slide into pleasure. Based on the controversial book by Emmanuelle Arsan, EMMANUELLE remains a ground-breaking picture: the first openly erotic film meant for the general public. The movie's evocative cinematography which captures the beauty of Thailand and uses it very effectively to support other erotic images, helped this film cause something of a cinematic revolution.

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This is because Kristel - and a high-profile supporting cast - are all extremely capable actors, and are very well directed by Jaeckin. I guess one should not take the overall premise of totally liberated sexual experimentation too seriously, but you completely believe in the characters and want them to come out of the other side unscathed. I first saw this movie as an 18-year-old on its original release, saw it again with its original French dialogue in Paris several years later and have watched it countless times on video and TV since. Yet it still retains the same erotic charge as it did all those years ago. How Kristel managed to completely fail to live up to it in her subsequent films is completely beyond me. The rest of her Emmanuelle series are unsexy and even seedy by comparison and her ventures into American films offered her nothing of any substance. I believe Hollywood missed a glorious opportunity to create an top international star.

39 of 39 found the following review helpful:

Interesting Film, better than what you can find now daysApr 29, 2005
By Steve Vander
An Adult, not rated, film

This is the first film in a trilogy (there are actually some other films that followed, just like Asimov's Foundation "Trilogy" ended up being more than three books) that stars Sylvia Kristel as Emmanuelle and spawned a large number of copy-cats (most of which go by the name Emanuelle). This particular film is based on Emmanuelle Arsan's 1957 book "Emmanuelle." This film also stars Alain Cuny, and Marika Green and co-starred Daniel Sarky, Jeannie Colletin, and Christine Boisson. The film's director, Just Jacekin, also directed "The Story of O."

This is a film about a couple in an open marriage living in Bangkok, the husband is a diplomat. The film opens with Emmanuelle in Paris getting ready to head off to join her husband in Bangkok for the first time. Once she arrives, she is introduced to the Bangkok culture and the Europeans living there (and their loose ways).

There are numerous interesting scenes, like: when the Thai butler chases after one of the maids and "mauls" her; when the Europeans living in Bangkok gather together and socialize next to a pool, and one of the woman flirt with Emmanuelle (some top-less, some completely nude, like Emmanuelle, extended scene of her and another woman swimming nude underwater); the scene when one of the women from the pool party shows up and touches Emmanuelle while she is sleeping, and then later, top-less, they talk on the porch and both pleasure themselves (Emmanuelle: as she recalls her activities aboard the plane on the trip to Bangkok where a man just walked up to her and started fondling her and more right there in the open and others, separately, joined in the fun); the lesbian scene at the racquetball club; then the numerous scenes with the female Bee and Emmanuelle traveling in Thailand; another scene at the athletic club, this one in the locker room; then the numerous scenes where Emmanuelle is under the control of an older man who forces her to do things she might not particularly like with various strange men, and some things which are definitely rape.

Red-headed Emmanuelle is something of an experienced yet naive girl in this first film in the trilogy, until she is lead into "eroticism" by an older man (that older man's lessons: love between couple's should be outlawed, every act should include three people). In this film there are scenes seen through the point of view of Emmanuelle and some through the POV of her husband.

An interesting little film that seems to be of a higher quality than you might find now-days, but still seems to be nothing more than an excuse to jump from one "adult" scene to another, with some non-adult scenes in-between.

Interesting little trailer, notes that the French president banned it forever, until a new government "set it free." Oddly enough, until I watched it again for review, I thought this had been a better movie than I now think of it. (4.10)

35 of 37 found the following review helpful:

An erotic adventure into the lucidity of the soul.Mar 19, 1999
By rzeh76b@prodigy.com
What stands out first and foremost in this '70s sexsploitation flick is the natural beauty of all the female leads, particularly Sylvia Krystal. Although hardcore porn fans may not find the scenes revealing enough, I feel there is a lot to be said about leaving something to the imagination. I would recommend skipping through the rape scenes which seem oddly out of place. This movie can by no means be taken seriously, but if you enjoy unaugmented women who are relatively competent actresses, you'll love the sexual aristeia of Emmanuelle.

19 of 22 found the following review helpful:

Hot softcoreSep 12, 2003

This is older softcore, and doesn't show as much as some of what is out today. Also, it attempts to have a storyline, so the sex scenes are spread out more than some of the modern softcore. However, this movie is very hot. Three or four of the action scenes really worked for me, while the remaining scenes ranged from pretty good to weak.

The storyline itself is weak, in my opinion, as it revolves around people who are trying to out-do each other when it comes to having sex. The philosophical mumbo-jumbo the film spouts is rubbish, and is used to justify the betrayal/rape that occurs about 3/4ths of the way through the movie.

My favorite scene is a scene near the start, where Sylvia and a young lady visitor are sitting on a porch, and the visitor unzips her shorts, sticks her hand down, and brings herself off. She never takes her shorts off, so your view of the action is not as good as it would be in one of today's films, but the scene was still very hot, with Sylvia looking a bit shocked as she watched the young almost-stranger going at it.

This is the sort of "emotional overtone" that gives it more erotic energy, and is what makes this movie better than most softcore films that have wall-to-wall action scenes, full nudity, etc., but no energy, excitement, or emotion.

I give the film only 4 stars because of the two "forced/rape" scenes. To be honest, I do like scenes where the girl starts off saying "no" but winds up saying, or means, "yes." My problem with the scenes from Emmanuelle (especially the "main" one) is that the girl was still saying "no" at the end, and appeared to really mean "no"--although the storyline indicates otherwise. I found that to be a real turn-off.

17 of 20 found the following review helpful:

EmmanuelleNov 11, 2007
By Dominick
Considering the limited budget and difficulty finding actors to play in Emmanuelle Arsan novel and the effort by the producers and director to stick to the original book in defiance to censorship of the times, I would rate the movie 5 Stars. Sylvia Kristel performance was a major force in the success and popularity of the movie. Other actors put in a fair effort in support. The story line is excellent and content outstanding. I enjoyed the music, exotic locations whether real or studio, made it all look real and worked well.
A break-through for its time and it is still ahead by todays standards, connoisseurs of fine art erotic movies will find this deliciously enjoyable. I only wish all of the erotic scenes that were removed, to pass censorship, were again included in this version, maybe one day it will be when society matures.

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