Emmanuelle

Emmanuelle
Emmanuelle character
Photo of Sylvia Kristel used to promote the 1974 film Emmanuelle
First appearance	Emmanuelle (1959 novel)
Created by	Emmanuelle Arsan
Portrayed by	Sylvia Kristel
Information
Gender	Female
Spouse(s)	Jean
Children	Diana, Emily, Eve-Ladah
Nationality	France

Emmanuelle is the lead character in a series of French soft porn erotic movies based on a character created by Emmanuelle Arsan in the novel Emmanuelle (1959).

Emmanuelle appeared as the nom de plume of Marayat Rollet-Andriane, a French-Thai actress born in the 1930s in Bangkok. Her 1957 book The Joys of a Woman detailed the sexual exploits of Emmanuelle, the "bored housewife" of a French diplomat. Rollet-Andriane's book caused a sensation in France and was banned.

The producer of another Arsan/Rollet-Andriane film Laure, Ovidio Assonitis, claimed that all books published under the nom-de-plume Emmanuelle Arsan were written by her husband Louis-Jacques Rollet-Andriane rather than by Marayat .

The first Emmanuelle film was the 1974 French theatrical feature Emmanuelle starring Dutch actress Sylvia Kristel (1952–2012) in the title role. She came to be the actress best identified with the role. This film pushed the boundaries of what was then acceptable on screen, with sex scenes, skinny-dipping, masturbation, the "Mile High Club", rape, and a scene in which a dancer lights a cigarette and puffs it with her vagina. This film was created and directed by French director Just Jaeckin.

Unlike many films that tried to avoid an X-rating, the first Emmanuelle film embraced it, and became a success with a viewing audience estimated at 300 million. It remains one of France's most successful films, and played in the Arc de Triomphe theatre for over eleven years. In France and the US the film was uncut, but British censors balked at masturbation and explicit sex. Heavy cuts were made to the film including the complete removal of the opium den rape and the infamous 'cigarette' sequence in the club.