Do Ut Des

This was a movie that I got the chance to check out thanks to Scott Motsiko. When I was looking into this, I figured out that it wasn't horror. The title intrigued me as a fan of exploitation cinema. I figured this was a modern take on the Emanuelle character and the films that came out in the 1970s/80s. My wife, Jaime, was also intrigued so she watched this with me.

Synopsis: a rich playboy spends his time recklessly playing with women. After seducing and dropping a model, he becomes infatuated with the mysterious Emanuelle (Beatrice Schiaffino), who proves to be equally deceitful and has a sinister agenda.

We start this seeing a young woman looking dazed. She walks along a bridge and we see her approaching the rail. Edited with this is flashes of what led her to be here. This movie is broken up into two parts and the first part shows us what got her to be where she is. Her name is Francesca (Ilaria Loriga). She is a model that is pursued by a rich entrepreneur, Leonardo (Gianni Rosato). He gets aggressive with her and wants to get her into bed. She rebuffs his advances until he takes her away to Budapest.

The other part of this is Leo having moved on. We see him out to lunch with his daughter, Giulia (Miriam Dossena). While there, Emanuelle catches his eye. This does seem to be a bit intentional on her part as she slips a glass of wine on him. She then helps him clean it off in the bathroom. We then see her manipulating him and playing hard to get. Much like the synopsis said, she does have an ulterior motive.

Now I wanted to set that up before getting a bit more of the meat of what we get here. This opening section does well at setting up Leo. What I like is that the whole time he is trying to convince Francesca that he's a good guy. There is a party where we peek behind the façade. Jaime brought up that it seems like he just wants the chase and conquest. I agree with her. What I will say is that Rosato does a great job at taking on this role. I love to hate him and his look is perfect for it.

Then the second half is set up to show how mysterious Emanuelle is. What I like here is that Schiaffino is gorgeous. I haven't seen any of the previous versions of this character, but I know these two elements are parts of the character. We already know the character of Leo and we see him trying to conquer. What I like is that much like Francesca, Emanuelle toes the line of giving in enough to keep him there and then playing hard to get. Now there is a reveal here as to what her endgame is. I was partially wrong in my guess, but what is going on makes more sense in the grand scheme. Much like Rosato's portrayal, I think Schiaffino holds her own opposite.

What I should also then say is that this doesn't have the deepest story. It also doesn't necessarily need it as it is more about the cat and mouse game between the two. There are bits though that if you're paying attention, factor back in later. That is good writing in my opinion which I did appreciate. I'll credit writer Monica Carpanese here. She also co-directed as well.

Let me then go over to the acting which I thought was good around them. Dossena is solid as Leo's daughter. She factors in at the climax and it horrified Jaime at first. I thought it was effective and I like the growth that it shows within Emanuelle as well. Loriga is solid as this young model that is trying to maintain control over Leo. It is heartbreaking what happens there. Luca Avallone plays Michael who works for Leo. The rest of the cast rounds this out for what is needed. There is a lot of nudity here and this includes Loriga, Dossena and Schiaffino. This stays in line with what I know about this series.

I'd also say that this is well-made. The cinematography is good. The framing is well done as well. There is a great sequence at the climax with a two-way mirror. That raises the tension for sure. There isn't much in the way of effects, but it also doesn't need it. The soundtrack also fit what was needed.

In conclusion, this won't be a movie for everyone. I thought that this was a solid erotic romance thriller film. It ventures into the psychological with how things play out. The theme of revenge fits here and goes with the title. I thought that the acting was good. I was intrigued to see where this went. It also handles heavy subject matter well. Not the greatest movie that falls into these subgenres and categories, but that's not a slight in the least. This is from Italy so I watched it with subtitles. If that's not an issue and you're looking for a movie like this, I'd recommend giving it a watch for sure.

My Rating: 7 out of 10.

No pun intended - I also have no idea what the movie is called in your region/land/wherever you are from! That said, apparently this does copy an older Emanuelle movie - I did not notice I think. I mean the story felt familiar or at least I could tell where this was going, but I did not see another movie in this - maybe because I have not seen the other movie or I successfully forgot about it.

But back to this: really tough to liken anyone in this. But also tough to completely hate someone - well at least not to the degree it would be necessary - or I feel it would be. Maybe you disagree and feel this warranted even for "smaller" misgivings.

This does not feel too erotic most of the time - but you can feel the sleazy main character ... but even he seems to be a human. Even though in the end I guess we can doubt that ... also while movies are not known to show us (people in general) using the bathroom/toilet ... we know that people need to do certain things. Looks like they forgot about that - or maybe it was too subtle and I didn't notice ... whatever the case, the movie will not be everyones cup of tea.

The closest to Emanuelle this came (no pun intended) was the use of the chair .. and I reckon the sizzling heat the main female character seems to give off ... but does she really? You be the judge ... again no pun intended.

The name Emanuelle (with its various spellings) will forever be linked to some of the most notorious erotic movies in cinema history, thanks to Sylvia Kristel and Laura Gemser. So it's an easy guess that Emanuelle - Sinnliche Rache will want to follow a similar (and sexy) path.

Surprisingly (to me at least), Emanuelle - Sinnliche Rache is a remake of Joe D'Amato's 1975 movie Emanuelle e Françoise (Le sorelline). Now even though I am admittedly a fan of Joe D'Amato's work, his movies are quite dated and are mostly known for the wrong reasons entirely.

So what does Emanuelle - Sinnliche Rache get right? I knew very little about this movie beforehand, so it was nice to see this reinvention of a familiar plot.

The actors/actresses are all good looking and there's plenty of topless nudity, albeit none of it excessive or prolonged. The story really does make the effort to be intriguing, which is great as I was worried this would simply dissolve into a senseless softcore affair.

The first half of the movie does play out like a TV movie, but in a harmless and enjoyable way. It's the last act however that really changes the tone, becoming quite dark and mean. The act of revenge (and the catalyst for it) are handled emotionally well.

Overall, this is quite a good recommendation for a date night movie if you're looking for something a little titillating but with a solid and interesting story to support it.