Emanuelle y el imperio de las pasiones

"La via della prostituzione" (1978), directed by the infamous Joe D'Amato, is a film that attempts to delve into the grimy world of prostitution, but unfortunately, it falls short of delivering a truly impactful or insightful narrative. Despite its provocative title and premise, the film struggles to rise above the exploitative nature of its genre, resulting in a somewhat lackluster viewing experience.

The film follows the story of Emanuelle, a journalist who goes undercover as a prostitute to expose a high-class sex ring. The plot, while intriguing, is marred by a lack of depth and character development. Emanuelle, played by Laura Gemser, is a compelling lead, but the script fails to provide her with the substance needed to truly bring her character to life.

D'Amato's direction is competent, but it lacks the finesse needed to elevate the material. The film's pacing is uneven, with scenes often dragging on for too long, only to be followed by abrupt transitions that leave the audience feeling disoriented. The cinematography, while occasionally striking, is largely unremarkable, failing to capture the gritty realism that the film's subject matter demands.

One of the film's few redeeming qualities is its score, composed by Nico Fidenco. The music, a blend of sultry jazz and haunting melodies, effectively captures the film's seedy atmosphere and provides a much-needed layer of depth to the proceedings.

However, the film's treatment of its subject matter leaves much to be desired. Rather than providing a nuanced exploration of prostitution and its societal implications, "La via della prostituzione" often resorts to gratuitous nudity and sexual content, which feels exploitative and undermines the film's potential for meaningful commentary.

In conclusion, "La via della prostituzione" is a film that, while not without its moments, ultimately fails to live up to its potential. With a weak script, uneven direction, and a tendency to exploit its subject matter, the film is a disappointing entry in the exploitation genre. It's not a complete waste of time, but there are certainly better films out there that tackle similar themes with more depth and sensitivity.💔🌃

Emanuelle and the White Slave Trade (1978)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Reporter Emanuelle (Laura Gemser) is doing a story on the white slave trade and tracks everything to a gangster living in Africa. Not happy stopping there, Emanuelle comes back to America and begins working undercover. This is probably the best of the D'Amato/Gemser Emanuelle movies but that's not saying too much. Unlike the other films in the series this one here at least manages to be entertaining without having to have a woman jerk off a horse as was seen in Emanuelle in America. This film here has a pretty interesting story and it moves along without too many boring spots. Needless to say there's a lot of sex scenes with Gemser taking on various men and women and these here are without a doubt the best scenes. D'Amato makes most of these very erotic, which is another thing missing from others in the series. I wouldn't say Gemser gives a good performance but she is comfortable in the role and you can't complain about seeing her naked throughout the film. The scenes in Africa are well shot and it's nice seeing some of the wildlife. Some of the American scenes were lifted from Emanuelle and the Last Cannibals but this just adds to some of the cheap fun. Original title: Via della prostituzione, La.

The quality of a film often suffers when the director decides to make it a "hardcore" feature. D'Amato's "Emanuelle In America" is a good example; remove the unappealing and artless hardcore shots and the nauseating "ejjaculation" inserts, and all that is left is a substandard, highly forgettable movie. This explains why "Emanuelle and the White Slave Trade" is, technically speaking, one of the best in the series. Without the porn angle to sell the product, D'Amato can concentrate on the important aspects of making a good movie; like a coherent and interesting story, and softcore erotic scenes that are truly artistic and extremely sexy. Anyone who finds the scenes of ugly men, "blowing their loads" on ugly bimbos, hotter, and more EROTIC than "the mechanic scene" featured in "White Slave Trade..." well, that audience shouldn't be reviewing these movies at all, because they just "don't get it..." In this long-lost entry in the Italian "Emanuelle" series, follows "Emy" Jordan, the reporter who travels to foreign lands to uncover stories too shocking for normal journalists, going to places, and dealing with people considered too dangerous for the average female reporter. Revisiting familiar territory, Emanuelle stumbles upon an international White Slavery ring while vacationing in Africa. Fans will recognize this story from both "Emanuelle In America," as well as the brutal but impressive "Emanuelle Around the World." Only this time D'Amato concentrates more on the quality, and it is recognized mostly in the writing and the introduction of some characters that are actually interesting and not simply one dimensional bodies who are there just to take off their clothes. Not that this film isn't filled with sex and nudity; it simply has more going for it than smut. Emanuelle's romantic interlude with the daughter of a foreign diplomat is really quite nice, and sexy without being exploitative, bringing to mind the girl/girl love story from the original, French "Emmanuelle" series with Sylvia Kristel. The rediscovery of this lost film is truly a great thing, and true fans of the series will be thrilled with the discovery of "Emanuelle and the White Slave trade." Those looking for the "love butter" and the "clam shots," might as well pass this one up.

This is a quite enjoyable little flick, though not as ingenious as Emanuelle and the last Cannibals. Unfortunately, it does not offer the same levels of gore and violence but somewhat compensates this shortcoming by excessive amounts of soft-core and an even more terrific sound-track by the same composer. The "safari"-scenes and the fight in the bowling-alley are unforgettable. Recommended to all fans of 70's sleaze but perhaps not to the general audience.

The Black Emanuelle series has some gems; but overall it's very hit and miss, and unfortunately Emanuelle and the White Slave Trade is one of the misses. The plot once against focuses on Emanuelle as she heads out to get an interview with some Italian criminal; but by chance actually happens upon someone that is into the white slave trade, and decides to investigate that instead. The film is directed by Joe D'Amato so as you would expect, there's plenty of sleaze and sex scenes; but actually this entry is somewhat more tame than some of the other Emanuelle flicks. The film actually appears to be going for a more softcore erotic feel; and although to be honest I generally prefer that to the hardcore style that most of these films feature; there's not enough in this film to really hold it together and the result is, unfortunately, rather boring. There are a few standout scenes, however; one that sees Emanuelle and another woman in the shower is worth mentioning, but you can get all this stuff in other, better, films. As always, the film stars the lovely Laura Gemser and once again she's very nice to look at and is definitely the best thing about the film. Overall, however, this is a rather dull entry in the series and thus is not recommended to anyone except hardcore Emanuelle fans!