Page 155 - Alternative Europe Eurotrash and Exploitation Cinema Since 1945

takes money to achieve this kind of artistic quality in a movie. One definition of the difference
between pornography and eroticism might therefore be: the size of the budget.18
Despite this financially pragmatic point of view, much of what makes Emmanuelle shine is Ms
Kristel's star persona.

STAR PERSONAS: SYLVIA KRISTEL

Born on 28 September 1952 in Uttecht, Netherlands, Sylvia Kristel was reared in a convent. Entering
early adulthood she worked various jobs before finally stumbling onto what appears to have been her
calling as a model. Then voted Miss TV Europe, she was signed to several Dutch features, including
Frank en Eva {Living Apart Together, Pirn de la Parra, 1973), though her wave clearly crested when
Emmanuelle catapulted her to fame.
Neither well trained nor especially gifted in theatre craft, her great physical beauty, her 'moist-
mouthed mixture of exoticism and sensuality',19 meant her blank affect and questionable talent made
her a perfect cipher for Jaeckin. Namely, she became a fantasy object through tetrific images that
helped transform her from mere flesh into an icon of the times.
For Kristel, Emmanuelle was an experience in photography',20 and, as such, she appeared reticent
to reprise the role in a sequel, not seeing the point. 21 Histoty, of course, reveals her shortsightedness,
although Kristel's subsequent career, with highlights including The Concorde: Airport '79 (David
Lowell Rich, 1979), Lady Chatterley's Lover (Jaeckin, 1981) and the infamous Private Lessons (Alan
Myerson, 1981), generally rests on her exhibitionism bordering on sexual self-exploitation.
Given her pale skin, auburn hair, long limbs and large, round eyes, she bore the stamp of a certain
female archetype. Her willingness to pose nude for filmmakers, photographers and journalists on
both sides of the Atlantic further added to her allure. One need only consider the evidence of her
filmography involving a number of sequels to her most famous role. These included Emmanuelle
2 {Emmanuelle: The Joys of a Woman, Francis Giacobetti and Francis Leroi, 1975), Emmanuelle 3
(aka Goodbye Emmanuelle, Francois Leterrier, 1977), Emmanuelle 4 (Leroi and Iris Letans, 1984)
and Francis Leroi's six-part confection, Emmanuelle's Revenge (1992), Emmanuelle's Perfume (1992),
Emmanuelle's Magic (1992), Emmanuelle au 7ime ciel {Emmanuelle 7, 1993), Emmanuelle's Love
(1993) and Emmanuelle pour toujours {Emmanuelle Forever, 1993).
Nonetheless, the value of Jaeckin's picture, in light of its transformation from novel to film,
is its ability to succeed in both media based on a female character in a decade often noted for
hyper-masculine heroes. More to the point, Kristel's persona encouraged viewers to join her in
various softcore adventures as a fantasy ideal, always eschewing the unpleasant aspects of hardcore
entertainment and ignoring modern crises like crumbling nuclear families and AIDS.

WAVES OF LUST AND WAVES OF INFLUENCE

Distributed under the wire of relaxed censorship standards, Emmanuelle was instrumental in
modernising French cinema insofar as it openly embraced simulated sex play. That it avoided 'harder'

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