Emmanuelle goes between sheets with a tragic tale
French politicians and pundits who like to bring out books in the autumn will face unusual competition this year from the star of Emmanuelle, the cult film that became synonymous with sexual liberation.
A long-awaited memoir by Sylvia Kristel, the Dutch model who played the title role, is the talk of Paris on the eve of an annual ritual known as the rentrée littéraire, or the “literary return to work”.
It is called Nue (Naked), a fitting title for an actress whose son Arthur asked her when he was 10: “Mummy, can’t you do films where you don’t have to take your pants off?”
The fall from iconic status was abrupt. Kristel’s drift into alcoholism, drug addiction and unsuccessful minor roles and marriages is related in her book with the ironic detachment of a shipwreck survivor looking back on the ordeal.
The film, which had originally been banned by censors in France, tells the story of a young woman discovering sensual pleasure in the Far East and was a cultural landmark for a generation. People flocked to Paris to see it.
Read full story (Times Online)
Sun 03-Sep-06 | Posted in: Art & Heritage, People
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