Page 154 - Alternative Europe Eurotrash and Exploitation Cinema Since 1945

FIGURE 28 Emancipation through sexual experimentation in Emmanuelle (1974)

All key departures from page to screen rest on the ease of translating Arsan's
erotic passages versus excising her philosophical wormholes. In the first half of the film we are
introduced to Kristel's Emmanuelle, along with the Thai countryside, preening Euro-harlots and
numerous sexual encounters. Masturbation holds centre court. Nearby is prominent lesbian
activity and just off in the distance is a high-gloss presentation of the female nude, everywhere an
object of lust and beauty, identification and wonder.
Professional lighting and recorded, or dubbed, sound is standard. Outdoor scenes and controlled
backgrounds are commonplace and camerawork is static, editing seamless. Long takes are the rule with
performances punctuated by awkward dialogue. In short, Emmanuelle is the obverse of the New
Wave style and its return to a traditional production standard is what causes the film to sputter.
While intended to fulfil our heroine's sense of bliss, the penultimate three-way demonstrates the
point because of its brevity and uneven result. The real failure is Jaeckin's softcore simulation when
remembering Arsan's hardcore source that, no matter the newly liberal permissiveness of French film
culture, remains unrealisable without more explicit means. As Pierre Schneider noted:

Judging by Just Jaeckin's film, the difference between eroticism and pornography is art.
Emmanuelle is a glossy sex travelogue [sic]. One is reminded of the exotic backgrounds chosen
by fashion magazines to present the new couture collections. Indeed, Mr Jaeckin's astuteness
has been to realise that these magazines are the rightful heirs to the publications specialising in
artistic nudes, popular and even acceptable in France around the turn of the century [sic]. It

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