SAGA EROTICA:
THE EMMANUELLE COLLECTION (1969-1977)
EMMANUELLE (1974)
EMMANUELLE 2 (1975)
GOODBYE EMMANUELLE (1977)
I, EMMANUELLE (1969)
.
Synopsis: 1974’s global sensation EMMANUELLE launched the career of star Sylvia Kristel, revolutionized portrayals of female sensuality on screen and cemented itself as the decade’s seminal erotic work worldwide. Reprising her role twice more, Kristel again starred in 1975’s EMMANUELLE 2 – showcasing a lush soundtrack by Academy Award winner Francis Lai – and in 1977’s GOODBYE EMMANUELLE – which marks the final embrace of the original trilogy. The fourth disc in the collection is actually the first; the rarely-seen 1969 Italian production I, EMMANUELLE starring Erika Blanc and inspired by the then-newly published memoir from Emmanuelle Arsan. All four films have been scanned in 4K from their original camera negatives with 15+ combined hours of new & archival Special Features, 2 Bonus Soundtrack CDs and a 128-page booklet of original essays, Sylvia Kristel artwork and more.
EMMANUELLE (1974)
Label: Severin Films
Region Code: Region-Free (UHD), Blu-ray: A (Disc 1), Region-Free (Disc 2)
Rating: Unrated
Duration: 94 Minutes 22 Seconds (Original Theatrical Version), 93 Minutes 27 Seconds (Director's Cut)
Audio: French Mono, English Mono DTS-HD MA 2.0 AOptional English Subtitles, Closed Captions
Video: HDR10 2160p Ultra HD Widescreen (1.66:1), 1080p HD Widescreen (1.66:1)
Director: Just Jaeckin
Cast: Sylvia Kristel, Alain Cuny, Marika Green, Daniel Sarky, Christine Boisson
The seminal softcore classic Emmanuelle (1974) is adapted from Emmanuelle Arsan's famously erotic-novel and stars the fresh-faced and freckled ginger Sylvia Kristel (Because Of The Cats) as the titular wife of an older French diplomat Jean (Daniel Sarky), who works at the French Embassy in Bangkok, Thailand. Arriving in Bangkok from Paris she mingles with the other diplomats bored and promiscuous wives who are bemused at her monogamous views, she is soon befriended by a teenage girl named Marie-Ange (Christine Boisson, Antonioni's Identification of a Woman) who comes to visit her at her home, all the while casually sucking on a lollipop and masturbating to a picture of Paul Newman in a magazine, sharing stories of promiscuous sexual encounters, thus setting the tone for this softcore sexual adventure. The films plays out in a menagerie of softcore, soft-focus sex fantasies with Emmanuelle eventually taking on several new lovers, including a blond archaeologist Bee (Marika Green), and the wife of another diplomat named Ariane (Jeanne Colletin) who also gives Emmanuelle's husband a taste, too. Then we have an older man named Mario (Alain Cuny, La Dolce Vita) whose sexual prowess is canonized by both Maria-Ange anD Ariane, but whom Emmanuelle has little interest in at first, but she's being steered in that direction.
The film is basically a series of sexual vignettes, it's all very softcore-lite in a nipple-nibbling sort of way that seems tame today, but might have been an erection-making shocker when this made the rounds in the theater in the 70's (or on late night cable where a lot of us caught it!) - and it was distributed by Columbia Pictures! Directed by Just Jaeckin (The Story of O) the film has a gauzy look about it, it feels dreamy and rises above it's smuttiness with some artistic leanings, and it does have a certain classy veneer about it with some great looking locations in Thailand - but it's a movie about a woman having sex with multiple partners, make no mistake about it.
The locations and female stars are attractive to watch, and while some of the eroticism is decidedly underplayed and happens off-screen it still manages to squeeze in a bizarre shocker - the image of a Thai stripper smoking a cigarette with her vagina always manages to catch me off guard, it's sort of gross, but also sort of mesmerizing in a strange stomach-churning way, and you know that woman must have died years ago of cervical cancer cause that's just not right! This shocking scene is only present in the Theatrical Cut and not the Director's Cut, having been filmed and added by the producers, and not director Just Jaeckin.
A few other minor issues I have with the film is that Emmanuelle sets out on this journey, ostensibly to become a better lover for her husband's pleasure (with his consent even), but it looses it's way at the end, not that this thing was a steadfast journey by any means, but the movie comes to a close with Emmanuelle out on the town with infamous old-lover Marco, who thus far has been confirmed to be an amazing lover, but he doesn't touch her, though he does take her to an opium den where she's gang-raped, then taken to an underground fight club where she becomes the sexual trophy of the winner, it's a strange ending that comes abruptly and doesn't wrap anything up, but I guess no one's watching an Emmanuelle movie looking for proper story, just some softcore fun with plenty of nude women. To that end I will say that Sylvia Kristel is not hard to watch, she was a gorgeous woman and looks great, I can see why this film caught on in the 70's, it's just not one of the better erotic films of that era in my opinion.
Special Features:
Disc 1: UHD (Films + Special Features)
- Audio Commentary With Film Historian Elizabeth Purchell (Director's Cut Only)
- French Trailer (1:02)
Disc 2: Blu-ray (Films + Special Features)
- Audio Commentary With Film Historian Elizabeth Purchell (Director's Cut Only)
- A Slightly Scandalous Character – Interview With Actress Marika Green (21:35)
- Producing EMMANUELLE – Interview With Producer Yves Rousset-Rouard (29:51)
- Filming EMMANUELLE – Interview With Camera Operator Robert Fraisse (16:19)
- Fabric & Fantasy: Costume As Character Development – Video Essay By Fashion And Costume Historian Elissa Rose (14:06)
- The Channel – Actress Liane Curtis On Her Mother, Dubbing Artist Paulette Rubinstein (14:09)
- Interview With Marayat Rollet-Andriane (aka Emmanuelle Arsan) On The Set Of THE SAND PEBBLES (1966) (2:06)
- The Joys Of Emmanuelle, Part 1 – Interviews With Star Sylvia Kristel, Director Just Jaeckin And Producer Yves Rousset-Rouard (16:39)
- French Trailer (1:02)
- U.S. Trailer (1:59)
Disc 3: Blu-ray (Special Features)
- Signed, Emmanuelle Arsan – Interview With Camille Moreau, Author Of Emmanuelle Arsan: Biography Of A Pseudonym (40:37)
- Interview With Director Just Jaeckin For FILMO TV (94:17)
- A HARD LOOK (2000) – TV Documentary By Filmmaker Alex Cox (47:47)
- Emmanuelle In Ontario – Video Essay On The Canadian Censorship Battle By Journalist Eric Veillette (13:34)
EMMANUELLE 2 (1975)
Label: Severin Films
Region Code: Region-Free (UHD), A (Blu-ray)
Rating: Unrated
Duration: 91 Minutes 17 Seconds
Audio: French Mono, English Mono
Optional English Subtitles, Closed Captions
Video: HDR10 2160p Ultra HD Widescreen (2.35:1), 1080p Ultra HD (2.35:1)
Director: Francis Giacobetti
Cast: Sylvia Kristel, Umberto Orsini, Frédéric Lagache, Catherine Rivet, Caroline Laurence, Henry Czarniak, Tom Clark, Laura Gemser
In the sequel Emmanuelle (Krystel, Mysteries) arrives in Hong Kong via ship to join her husband, now played by Umberto Orsini (Violent City), again with the understanding that sleeping around is A-OK as long as their are no romantic entanglement to impede their own relationship. Arriving she discovers her husband has been having relations of a sexual nature with a gorgeous young woman named Laura (Florence Lafuma), spurring her to pursue a handsome American pilot/art smuggler named Christopher (Frédéric Lagache), as well as both pursuing Laura's sexy but virginal step-daughter Anna-Maria (Catherine Rivet)!
The sequel is even more lavish a production than the first film, an erotic travelogue or erotic adventure with Emmanuelle failing to bed the American pilot, he being truly puzzled by her sexual politics. However, she manages to get some via Anna-Maria's dance instructor, a tattooed polo player and various men and women at day spas, including an interesting masturbation scene while she's having acupuncture applied to her body, and posing as a whore at a gentleman's club - this girl gets around!
The film is artfully shot by cinematographer Robert Fraisse (Ronin, Madame Claude) with gorgeous tracking shots that soak in the exotic scenery, of both the environmental and physical variety, sweeping across nude flesh in the throws of ecstasy. The film opens on a weird seduction scene, a woman on the ship travelling to Hong Kong tells Emmanuelle of being raped by three women at her boarding school when she was younger, thereby initiating a lesbian love scene, it's a strange come on, but it works. Be on the lookout here for Laura Gemser (Violence in a Women's Prison) who would go onto star in the Black Emmanuelle series of films, as a horny massage parlor girl, it's all hot stuff!
Special Features:
Disc 4: UHD (Film + Special Features)
- Audio Commentary With Film Historian Elizabeth Purchell And Filmmaker Gillian Wallace Horvat
- International Trailer (1:33)
- U.S. Trailer (2:56)
Disc 5: Blu-ray (Film + Special Features)
- Audio Commentary With Film Historian Elizabeth Purchell And Filmmaker Gillian Wallace Horvat
- Audio Interview With Director Francis Giacobetti (20:58)
- Producing EMMANUELLE 2 – Interview With Producer Yves Rousset-Rouard (10:59)
- Filming EMMANUELLE 2 – Interview With Cinematographer Robert Fraisse (12:46)
- Mondo Emmanuelle – Ethnography And Softcore With Dr. Jennifer Moorman, Assistant Professor Of Communication And Media Studies (23:21)
- Filming Report For Swiss TV (31:35)
- The Joys Of Emmanuelle, Part 2 – Interviews With Star Sylvia Kristel And Producer Yves Rousset-Rouard (9:41)
- International Trailer (2:20)
- U.S. Trailer (1:33)
- Radio Spots (2:56)
Disc 6: CD: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack by Fracais Lai (38:08)
1. L'amour d'aimerby Sylvia Kristel (2:23)
2. Le theme d'Emmanuelle (5:35)
3. Le ressouvenir d'Ingrid (1:14)
4. Emmanuelle et Anna Marie (2:33)
5. La seconde rencontre de Jean (2:10)
6. La maison de rendez-vous (3:39)
3. Le seduction de l'ile de Bali (2:06)
8. Emmanuelle au Hong Kong (1:11)
9. La vierge Anan Marie (6:00)
10. La fantaisie d'Emmanuelle (3:33)
11 Une soiree orientale (1:40)
12. Le plaisir d'amour (3:45)
13. L'amour d'aimer (Reprise), by Sylvia Kristel(2:18)
GOODBYE EMMANUELLE (1977)
Label: Severin Films
Region Code: Region-Free (UHD), A (Blu-ray)
Rating: Unrated
Duration: 98 Minutes 3 Seconds
Audio: French Mono, English Mono DTS-HD MA 2.0 with Optional English Subtitles, Closed Captions
Video: HDR10 2160p Ultra HD Widescreen (2.35:1), 1080p HD Widescreen (2.35:1)
Director: François Leterrier
Cast: Sylvia Kristel, Charlotte Alexandra, Umberto Orsini
The original erotic saga trilogy starring Sylvia Kristel sort of ended with Goodbye Emmanuelle (1977), directed by François Leterrier (Private Screening), the erotic icon leaving the film series, though she did return for Emmanuelle 7, and to play the character a couple of early '90s made-for-cable TV Emmanuelle movies. In this entry in the erotic saga of Emmanuelle (Kristel, Julie) and her open-marriage husband Jean (Umberto Orsini, Story of a Cloistered Nun) travel to the gorgeous island nation of Seychelles, where they each embark on various sexual exploits together in threesome and alone with others. It's more of the same, gorgeous travelogues, beautiful people, sensual couplings, and a terrific score by Serge Gainsbourg, including a main title theme performed by Gainsbourg & Jane Birkin. This time around their sexually open marriage is put to the test when Emmanuelle meets a handsome film director Grégory (Jean-Pierre Bouvier, The Divorce) who is in the area scouting locations for his new film, Jean senses the unusually strong sexual and personal attraction and becomes jealous, his behavior further pushing his wife into the arms of her new preferred lover. This has a bit more melodrama to it, the focus on the disintegrating relation between Emmanuelle and Jean in intriguing, there's less of a focus on bed-hopping, though there are still some wonderfully erotic turn-ons to be seen, including a couple of threesomes, artfully staged and lensed and plenty titillating, but the downgrade in the number of erotic encounters does sort detract from it, this is an Emmanuelle film after all, and the addition of adding a more realistic relationship and emotional depth, i.e. jealousies and tiring of the endless parade of sex, defies the fantasy you might be looking for with the franchise.
It's still a solid entry though, lots of the exotic scenery to take in, and plenty of sensual couplings. Plus, Kristel and Orsini still have terrific chemistry which goes a long way towards lending credibility to the emotional depth of their disintegrating marriage, and we get appearances in various stages of undress from Olga Georges-Picot (The Man Who Haunted Himself), Charlotte Alexandra (Immoral Tales), Alexandra Stewart (Day and Night).
Special Features:
Disc 7: UHD (Film + Special Features)
- Audio Commentary With Film Writer/Professor Of Modern Culture And Media Dr. Veronica Fitzpatrick
- International Trailer(1:54)
- U.S. Trailer (2:23)
Disc 8: Blu-ray (Film + Special Features)
- Audio Commentary With Film Writer/Professor Of Modern Culture And Media Dr. Veronica Fitzpatrick
- Beyond Emmanuelle: Sylvia Kristel's Life And Career – Interviews With Jeremy Richey, Author Of Sylvia Kristel: From Emmanuelle To Chabrol, And Leila Wimmer, Senior Lecturer In Film Studies At London Metropolitan University
- Audio Erotica – The Music Of The Emmanuelle Series With Soundtrack Journalist Daniel Schweiger (17:01)
- The Joys Of Emmanuelle, Part 3 – Interviews With Star Sylvia Kristel And Producer Yves Rousset-Rouard (9:07)
- International Trailer (1:54)
- U.S. Trailer (2:23)
- Radio Spots (3:48)
I, EMMANUELLE (1969)
Label: Severin Films
Region Code: Region-Free (UHD) A (Blu-ray)
Rating: Unrated
Duration: 98 Minutes
Audio: English Mono, Italian Mono DTS-HD MA 2.0 with Optional English Subtitles
Optional English Subtitles, Closed Captions
Video: HDR10 2160p Ultra HD Widescreen (1.85:1), 1080p HD Widescreen (1.85:1)
Director: Cesare Canevari
Cast: Erika Blanc, Adolfo Celi, Sandro Pizzochero
The fourth film on this set, I, Emmanuelle (1969), aka A Man for Emmanuelle, is directed by Cesare Canevari (Last Orgy of the Third Reich), and is an interesting curio in the franchise, an Italian, not French, film that was the first film to feature the character, but its not an adaptation of Emmanuelle Arsan novels, but was instead based on a short story Disintegrazione '68 by Graziella writer/activist/journalist Di Prospero, who also co-wrote the screenplay. It's more of a cash-in on the success of the novel, but it is in fact the first Emmanuelle film. The film stars the stunning Erika Blanc (The Devils Nightmare) as the titular Emmanuelle, a young woman who is in a deep depression, dissatisfied with life, and seemingly on the verge of suicide. In an attempt to get out her existential funk and feel something, anything, she has various sexual encounters with various mostly unattractive men that does little to spark her will to live or being her any sort of pleasure This is a surprisingly bleak and cold erotic film, it's more of a Roman Polanski-esque exploration of depression, punctuated with loveless/pleasureless sexual encounters that fail to titillate, which is by design, this film is more concerned with spiraling depression that traditional softcore erotic thrills. Blanc is terrific though, she's absolutely gorgeous and turns in a nuanced performance as the depression-spiraling nymphomaniac, plus it has a terrif score by Gianni Ferrio (Death Walks at Midnight), and we get appearances by Adolfo Celi (Thunderball, Naked Girl Murder in the Park) and Sandro Pizzochero (A Hyena in the Safe) as lovers in her orbit.
This is pretty far removed from the travelogue sexual adventures of the later French Emmanuelle series, instead we get a decidedly cold and depressing tale of sexual misadventure, and it's as unsettling as it sounds. The nudity is actually quite brief, and as stated before it's not really a turn-on either, it's just interesting to me that this was the first Emmanuelle film, when it's almost a sad satire of the source material. That said, while it fails to illicit the traditional joy of sex thrills and fantasy of the French produced Emmanuelle films I enjoyed this is as a Polanski-esque character study though, it's visually quite a striking film with some cracked-psyche/disorienting editing style that gets pretty wild at times, but it made for quite a downbeat chaser after watching the Kristel trilogy.
Special Features:
Disc 9: UHD (Film + Special Features)
- Audio Commentary With Film Historian Dr. Alexandra Heller-Nicholas
- Trailer (3:38)
Disc 10: Blu-ray (Film + Special Features)
- Introduction By Kier-La Janisse, Author Of House Of Psychotic Women (6:39)
- Audio Commentary With Film Historian Dr. Alexandra Heller-Nicholas
- A Director À La Française – Interview With Director Cesare Canevari (14:27)
- Memoirs Of Emmanuelle – Interview With Actress Erika Blanc (19:04)
- A Man For Emmanuelle – Interview With Actor Sandro Pizzochero (8:22)
- Protagonist And Subject – Video Essay By Filmmaker Carl Elsaesser (9:53)
- Concerning Emmanuelle – Archival Interview With Cesare Canevari (8:54)
- Trailer (3:38)
Disc 11: CD - Original Motion Picture Soundtrack by Gianni Ferrio (28:58)
1. Emmanuelle (3:08)
2. Micropsichia (1:52)
3. Contestazione (2:30)
4. Analisi (1:45)
5. Preludio (1:51)
6. Profondita (2:40)
7. Osmosi (2:52)
8. Angoscia (2:11)
9. Tempo (1:54)
10. Ricerca (1:45)
11. Nausea (0:58)
12. Equazione (1:06)
13. Caos (1:16)
14. Emmanulle (Alternate Mix) (3:10)
2. Micropsichia (1:52)
3. Contestazione (2:30)
4. Analisi (1:45)
5. Preludio (1:51)
6. Profondita (2:40)
7. Osmosi (2:52)
8. Angoscia (2:11)
9. Tempo (1:54)
10. Ricerca (1:45)
11. Nausea (0:58)
12. Equazione (1:06)
13. Caos (1:16)
14. Emmanulle (Alternate Mix) (3:10)
Audio/Video: All four films arrive on Blu-ray and 4K Ultra HD from Severin Film on region-free discs, sourced from newly scanned in 4K from the original camera negatives. The first Emmanuelle film is framed in 1.66:1 widescreen, while Emmanuelle 2 and Goodbye Emmanuelle are framed in 2.35:1 widescreen, with I, Emmanuelle in the 1.85:1 widescreen aspect ratio, all befitting from HDR10 color-grading on UHD. The first three film all have a similar look, very polished with a soft-focus leaning that adds a gauzy dreaminess to the erotic happenings, the world-travelling travelogue cinematherapy also looks fantastic, with an abundance of gorgeous and colorful scenery. The source looks immaculate, or has been restored to a near flawless state, grain looks organic is intact and well-managed, offering plenty of detail and stylish clothing texture close- up close shots of faces, every freckle, dimple and nipple looks warm and natural, skin tones look healthy, and black level looks terrific. The fourth film is an earlier Italian production, it does not have the sheen and polish of the three later films on the set, but it still look wonderful. Grain is well-managed, though there are more scratches and small blemishes are evident, mostly white speckling and tiny scratches, but generally it looks fantastic as well. All four films benefit from HDR, the wider color gamut offers warmer more vibrant color over the accompanying Blu-ray counterparts, with superior contrast and clarity - these are easily the best A/V presentations any of these films have ever had on home video, they simply look gorgeous. .
Audio for all four films comes by way of original DTS-HD MA 2.0 stereo, with the option of French or an English dub on the three French films with Kristel, or Italian and English on the Italian production, all with optional English subtitles. The French and Italian tracks have a more organic delivery to them, the English sounds a bit thin and less robust by comparison, but if you're adverse to subtitles it'll do the job just fine.
The set has quite a wonderful array of extras, we get new commentaries for each, Emmanuelle features an Audio Commentary With Film Historian Elizabeth Purchell (Director's Cut Only); Emanuel 2 has an Audio Commentary With Film Historian Elizabeth Purchell And Filmmaker Gillian Wallace Horvat; Goodbye Emmanuelle features an Audio Commentary With Film Writer/Professor Of Modern Culture And Media Dr. Veronica Fitzpatrick, while I, Emmanuelle sports an Audio Commentary With Film Historian Dr. Alexandra Heller-Nicholas.
There are also hours of new and archival interview interviews with the cast and crew; an accompaniment of new visual essays; a fantastic music featurette with Daniel Schweiger that dives deep into the sophisticated soundtracks of each film; a wonderful interview with Jeremy Richey, Author Of Sylvia Kristel: From Emmanuelle To Chabrol; the 3-part The Joys Of Emmanuelle Interviews With Sylvia Kristel, Director Just Jaeckin And Producer Yves Rousset-Rouard, plus from the old Anchor Bay box set; and a coupe of feature length docs and interviews, among them the a 90-min career-spanning interview with director Just Jaeckin, and the U.S. premiere of the 2000 doc A Hard Look by Alex Cox (Repo Man). There are also Trailers and Radio Spots for the film.
The 4-film, 11-disc UHD/BD/CD set and 128-book set arrives in a very attractive top-loading hard box set adorned with some lovely images of star Sylvia Kristel. Inside the box the films are presented in individual black keepcases with single-sided wraps, inside the UHD/Blu-ray discs feature more uncensored images from the films of Kristel, and Erika Blanc. Both Emmanuelle 2 and I, Emmanuelle include CD soundtracks, inside the keepcase for those films you will find a cardstock insert with artwork and CD tracklists for each. The 128-Booklet features an array of terrific essays by Todd Gilchrist, Alex Cox, and Camille Moreau, plus a lengthy interview with Sylvia Kristel, and extensive galleries of Sylvia Kristel's artwork, film posters, lobby cards, press books and more.
Severin have put together quite a wonderful package with this 11-disc 4K UHD/Blu-ray/CD box set, collecting the three classic Sylvia Kristel starring French Emmanuelle films, and the unsettling curio that is the Italian production of I, Emmanuelle with Erika Blanc. All have been meticulously restored and scanned in 4K from the camera negative, with over 13 hours of extras, including two CD soundtracks, it's an absolute treasure trove of deep-diving extras, and the most definitive set to date of the Kristel films on home video, this is a must-own set for lovers of classic softcore cinema.
Screenshots from the Severin Films Blu-rays:
EMMANUELLE (1974)
EMMANUELLE 2 (1975)
Extras:
GOODBYE EMMANUELLE (1977)
I, EMMANUELLE (1969)
Extras:
Buy It
#ad
