Black Emanuelle (1975) - Part One
For purposes of this study of the first Emanuelle film, BLACK EMANUELLE, we will be using two elements: the Polish DVD, which is the hardcore version, and an earlier American video element that presents the R-rated version released theatrically in the United States. The hardcore version was assembled through inserts in which the film's main actors and actresses did not participate. These inserts appear to be part of the filming plan from the start of production, however. In an interview for Nocturno Cinema's IO EMANUELLE, a 1997 booklet dedicated to Laura Gemser, the Indonesian beauty admits, "Of course, EMANUELLE wasn't so clean. I remember in fact, they added in some scenes that I refused to star in, and they used a body double. To tell the truth, I don't know if they used those scenes, but I remember that they filmed them."
By the time BLACK EMANUELLE was made, both mid to upper echelon softcore and hardcore pornography had been minted and were becoming popular genres. BLACK EMANUELLE was constructed to take advantage of both genres. Because it did not have a regular extended dosage of graphic sex scenes, the hardcore version could not expect to play in "triple X" theaters, but it could land playdates in theaters around the world where its brief hardcore scenes would create appropriate interest among potential audiences eager to see taboos broken under the guise of a soft-porn or sex adventure film. Many countries still frowned upon the exhibition of hardcore films or outright banned them from securing any playdates. The hardcore version of BLACK EMANUELLE could secure a playdate, however, without being labeled a genuine hardcore film, but still gain the sellable notoriety of showing forbidden material.
Such a plan to maximize profits by crafting two versions of a film was nothing new in the 1970s, and as we see more of these type of films released on DVD, we also see at times the joint presentation of both variants--hard and soft, as well as the discarding of the soft version at other times for the more potent and profit-making hard, and usually rarer, version.
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