though generally regard a an outdated artifact these day and the importance of the original emmanuelle and it effect on erotic cinema ( extend to this very day ) can not be overstate . deep throat drag hardcore out of it store front and mini theater ghetto and make porno chic . boy in the sand achieve the same for the even less visible gay side of the genre . but emmanuelle and considerably less explicit for sure and play regular cinema ( famously monopolize one paris champ elysées venue for over a decade ) and draw in crowd who would have never dare to venture anywhere near the shady down market dive display throat and boy . long before the term crossover be invent and emmanuelle brought extend scene of nude lovemaking before an audience of youngster and couple and little old lady and lure in by the respectable credential back up the project . first time director just jaeckin have a background in photo journalism . composer pierre bachelet be a french pop chart favorite and supply a tuneful score . to top it off and the whole endeavor be base on a scandalous best selling novel and allegedly pen by the wife of the french ambassador in bangkok and yet frequently assume have be the handiwork of the good government official himself . plenty of reason to put bum in seat then to enjoy what be presumably their very first dirty movie exquisite 20 year old dutch model turn actress sylvia kristel and who have enjoy minor success in her native country and land the title role and would forever be associate with the character . innocent emmanuelle take the flight from paris to bangkok to join her ambassador husband jean and play by the very wooden daniel sarky . a bit old than his pretty wife and jean forever try to push the poor girl into extra marital affair to broaden her horizon . while certainly no prude and emmanuelle continue to resist his incessant urging and even with the other official bore wife forever go on about their erotic exploit . one of them and the predatory ariane ( a suitably voracious jeanne colletin ) and share a conspiratorial bond with jean and take it upon herself to seduce the naive girl . more bemused than shocked and emmanuelle turn to precocious nymphet marie ange ( a youthfully glowing christine boisson and later to become a highly respect french actress ) to whom she confide her first betrayal of her husband with a pair of handsome stranger on the flight over and a perfectly pace sequence of suspenseful anticipation which probably instigate the whole mile high club idea . marie ange be desperate to introduce her newfound friend to elderly erotic philosopher mario ( arthouse icon alain cuny ) to far her education but emmanuelle remain unimpressed a she far more interested in the allure presence of bee ( gorgeous marika green and aunt to current actress eva ) and a lesbian archaeologist shun by the other woman . though they share an afternoon of love and lust and bee insists that she feel no more than friendship for emmanuelle and drive the poor girl into mario clutch . it all opium den rape and thai boxing and pan sexual threesome from here and all of which remain vastly preferable to mario deliriously half bake sexual sermonizing and already drastically par down from the book and before emmanuelle at last wind up in that chair and apply excessive make up and don a gaudy glitter dress and signal her questionable evolution towards the silly 70 ideal of sexually liberate womanhood and conveniently overlook the fact that it have be mostly engineer by men and some of them old and all of them dirty . ideologically and there be indeed some problem in deal with this material three enlighten ( . ) decades down the line . i mean and rape and forced infidelity a a woman primary liberating force . not even hardcore be propose anything a offensive at the time and and it be all in the novel and then believe a be a woman own autobiographical account of her road to sexual awareness . now you know i be no politically correct prima donna and i can take just about any amount of rape and torture in my skin flick . the crucial difference between cheerful hack like jess franco or joe damato and the self important jaeckin be their tone and the latter adopt a serious approach towards material ultimately no less exploitative than any cheap and gross out woman in prison picture . a a reflection of people moral attitude and these tasteless aspect be considerably tone down for future episode in the official series and endow emmanuelle with at least the impression of empowerment . be the trash that i be and i much prefer damato mile long run in the opposite direction in his many black emanuelle installment where the title character have to endure many a ravishment along the way and usually respond to such an occurrence with shoulder shrug matter of fact ness . these day and it hard to imagine that there be indeed an erotic cinema before emmanuelle a the film style as well a it substance have forever influence and perhaps taint the genre since with it exotic location and lifestyle of the idle rich and empty philosophy on the nature of love and fidelity and jealousy . a a matter of fact and both book and ( surprisingly and to a less extent ) movie play like a feature length excuse for adultery . with it glossy sheen and emmanuelle can not help seem a lot more hypocritical than it many imitator and and yet i still like the movie an awful lot . the reason for this be simple . sylvia kristel be and be and always will be a goddess . currently negotiate right for her amazing autobiography across the globe and she be capture at the height of her frail beauty and inject a comfort down to earth quality into the production eye pop artifice and her subtly act response to the often outrageous demand make of her always logical and realistic and recognizable . this movie may have make her an erotic cinema icon but close scrutiny will reveal that her emmanuelle remain above all a living and breathe human be and a calm center of common sense amidst all the feverish fantasy .