A MAN FOR EMMANUELLE (1969) ***

A Man for Emmanuelle is the first Emmanuelle rip-off.  Actually, it’s the first Emmanuelle movie, period.  While the later “Emanuelle” films were ripping off the Sylvia Kristel series, this one was meant to cash in on Emmanuelle Arsan’s novel, Emmanuelle.  

Erika (The Devil’s Nightmare) Blanc stars as the screen’s first Emmanuelle, although there’s no relation to the character Sylvia Kristel played.  She has the same knack for getting into sexual misadventures, but the big difference here is that this is a nymphomaniac who takes no pleasure in her actions.  In fact, she spends most of her time alone in her home, bored and suicidal.  (She often looks down from her balcony and imagines her dead body splattered on the pavement.)  This should be the immediate tip-off that A Man for Emmanuelle isn’t your ordinary sex flick.

In fact, the nudity is brief and not all that tantalizing.  The camera spends a lot of time looking at her belly, which is an odd focal point for a ‘60s sexploitation movie.  Does Emmanuelle think she’s pregnant?  Or does she have a dysmorphia thing going on where she’s really skinny, but thinks she’s fat?  I’m not sure, but one scene has a Michael Bay-type shot that spins around and round her body with nothing but tummy shots for like thirty seconds straight. 

Unlike most heroines in these kinds of films, Emmanuelle is hoping to find a guy to bang in order to feel something… anything, other than the isolation and loneliness she keeps inside.  When she does go to bed with a man, the expression on her face is so blank that it’s hard to tell if she has succeeded, which is kind of heartbreaking.  Most of her encounters end awkwardly.  Sometimes Emmanuelle fails to seduce her intended conquest, which adds to her frustration.  Eventually, she finds a man who introduces a little violence in with the sex, which helps… somewhat.  Mostly, she spends a lot of her time pining for the older man who deflowered her years ago. 

Blanc is excellent in the lead.  She experiences a whirlwind of emotions throughout and her performance is nothing less than captivating.  It’s also fun seeing Adolfo (Thunderball) Celi turning up late in the game as one of her would-be conquests, a politically minded newspaper editor.

A Man for Emmanuelle is shockingly downbeat and depressing, but it’s also thoughtful and realistic.  It’s definitely not the sort of thing you’d expect from Cesare Canevari, the director of Caligula Reincarnated as Hitler.  He gives the early scenes a feel reminiscent of Repulsion.  This stretch of the film is easily the most complex and interesting.  From there, it kind of fumbles around for much of the second act.  Then again, so does the character.  I did admire that they didn’t go for a storybook ending.  While it’s not your average happy Hollywood ending, it at least allows the character to find some peace, while still refusing to pull any punches.  I found that refreshing.

Rip-off or not, this is a nice addition to the list of countless Emmanuelle movies.  While it doesn’t always work, I was impressed with the way Canevari and Blanc were allowed to explore the concept of trauma in (what would be on first glance be) a typical sex film.  Thanks to their efforts, A Man for Emmanuelle is anything but typical.