Emmanuelle 2

The sequel to Emmanuelle managed to deliver what was promised by the first, and managed to avoid the pratfalls that the first one fell into.

The original Emmanuelle hoped to deliver beautiful photography of exotic locales and sex scenes. It was created in the pre-video era when softcore pornographers would try to sneak their product onto theatrical screens in the USA by disguising it as art. Unfortunately, it managed to bollox that up with a script which seemed to be written by a masturbating eighth grader, a conception of women which was somewhat hampered by the fact that the author had apparently never actually met one, and a philosophy of sexual liberation which has all the sophistication of a high school kid trying to persuade his date to have sex. The DP did manage to compose some artistic shots. Unfortunately, his artistry was not matched by the technical mastery of such elements as focus, color, and lighting. These inherent weaknesses were further compounded by a poor DVD transfer, cheap film stock, and some of the worst dubbing in history, presumably with some of the worst translation as well (giving the benefit of the doubt to the original screenplay, which couldn't have been that bad).

I think I wrote that the first Emmanuelle film might be made into a decent softcore DVD if you could locate the negatives, create a new transfer, then dub the dialogue again, substituting sane dialogue for the words actually spoken by the characters. As it stands now, that DVD is atrocious.

Emmanuelle 2 is better. First of all, the problems with poor dialogue, cartoon characterization, and inept plotting are resolved. Oh, they didn't improve them. they simply eliminated them. There's no plot, no forward movement in characters or action, no attempt at characterization, and very little dialogue. The entire plot, and I'm not exaggerating here, consists of the fact that a virginal young girl befriends Emmanuelle, and in the last scene she ends up in bed with Emmanuelle and her hubby. Man, my heart was tickin' like a triphammer wondering how that would end up. The funny thing is that the movie simply ends in the middle of their sex scene, as if to say "OK, they all got in bed, you happy? See ya in the next sequel."

NUDITY REPORT

Lots. It's a soft-core porn film. Sylvia Kristel and Catherine Rivet are the stars. many oriental women are naked in background roles: masseuses, prostitutes. etc. (One of them is Laura Gemser, who would later get her own Emmanuelle series)

But I should note for you that this was 1977, and pubic hair is rarely seen. This is truly a soft softcore. I don't know how much more is visible in the "unedited" version.

What little dialogue there is consists of stuff like this:
"Man, she's hot. I want to fuck her."

"Did you come in the water?"

"I got us tickets to Bali. Are you happy?"

In addition to the fact that the dialogue is unimportant, the DVD also allows you to listen to it in French with English sub-titles, so there is no issue like the inept dubbing that sabotaged the first Emmanuelle picture.

Your significant other will also appreciate that this film seems to have adopted a somewhat more politically correct view of sex than the first Emmanuelle, in which Emmanuelle is now choosing to have sex with some men, and choosing not to with others. Long gone is the earlier philosophy that Emmanuelle can learn the true meaning of love only after being raped and repeatedly sodomized by Stone Age villagers. In fact, I think your wife or girlfriend will find that this one has a reasonably evolved consciousness of the feminine viewpoint.

The movie is really a series of vignettes that work something like this:

Shot of plane flying to Bali

3-5 minutes of travelogue - colorful location photography and exotic local rituals.

Several minutes of sex scenes.

Next segment

Bowling Night is always a big hit in Hong Kong, with far more exotic apres-frame activities than those silly pinball games you'll find in Chi-Town.

DVD info from Amazon.

Widescreen letterboxed, 2.35:1
no meaningful features

The film has a simple formula: nothing except beautiful photography of exotic locales and sex scenes. That is why you watch an Emmanuelle movie, and this one delivers the goods. The DVD is reasonably good. It appears that they had to cobble the DVD print together from more than one source medium. Some scenes are exquisite, while others, like the opening scene, are green, fuzzy, and faded. Not only that, but the opening scene is in a different aspect ratio (about 2.55:1)! I'm guessing that the main print or negative they used was damaged and they had no choice but to substitute some footage from an inferior print. Once that first scene is over, however, there are only sporadic lapses in the quality, and some of it is truly excellent. The massage scene is genuinely erotic, if lengthy.

TUNA's THOUGHTS

Emmanuelle, L'Antivierge is the second of the authentic Emmanuelle trilogy. This time, we change directors (the previous one was offered the job and declined), we go from Thailand to Hong Kong, and Emmanuelle's husband changes jobs. This time he is an engineer, played by a new actor. The short version of the plot this time is three words -- Emmanuelle has sex. There is no plot arc in this film, but rather a series of sexual exploits, beginning with another passenger in the shipboard dormitory that Emmanuelle arrives on, through a tattooed polo player, her husband, a sexual acupuncturist, a massage girl, three men at a brothel, and finally a three way with her husband and young friend Catherine Rivet.

The three of them visit the massage parlor together, and one of the massage girls is Laura Gemser. All three of these women show everything, and there is copious nudity from other massage girls, women in the shipboard dorm, and women in the brothel. Kristel contracted an eye infection during filming, hence sun glasses in many of her scenes. The producer had enough bookings before principal photography began that the film was assured of a profit when it started. The French board of censors properly said it was an 18 and above film, but a minister out to make a name for himself over-ruled them and gave it a porn rating. Rather than release it with that rating, they released it everywhere but France, and sued. They eventually won, but some Spanish theaters made a fortune from French people crossing the border to see it. Kristel recorded the theme song for this film.

The Critics Vote

no major reviews

The People Vote ...

With their votes ... IMDB summary: IMDb voters score it 4.4. yes, of course that is a fair rating if you view the film as a "legitimate" movie, since it lacks any cinematic elements except pretty photographs and sex scenes. On the other hand, if you like pretty photographs and sex scenes, it offers a quality presentation.

IMDb guideline: 7.5 usually indicates a level of excellence, about like three and a half stars from the critics. 6.0 usually indicates lukewarm watchability, about like two and a half stars from the critics. The fives are generally not worthwhile unless they are really your kind of material, about like two stars from the critics. Films under five are generally awful even if you like that kind of film, equivalent to about one and a half stars from the critics or less, depending on just how far below five the rating is.

My own guideline: A means the movie is so good it will appeal to you even if you hate the genre. B means the movie is not good enough to win you over if you hate the genre, but is good enough to do so if you have an open mind about this type of film. C means it will only appeal to genre addicts, and has no crossover appeal. D means you'll hate it even if you like the genre. E means that you'll hate it even if you love the genre. F means that the film is not only unappealing across-the-board, but technically inept as well.

Based on this description, Scoop says. "This film is a C. A good softcore from the golden age of arty softcore". Tuna says, "It delivers on nudity, has some nice scenics (especially in Bali), and is filmed in a beautiful Wide Screen, but there is no central conflict at all, and I found myself wanting plot. C-"