Emmanuelle 2: L'antivierge

Like "Emmanuelle, "Joys of a woman" wallows in pseudo-philosophy while displaying a lot of aroused women seeking satisfaction… The setting is Hong Kong, where Emmanuelle is taken through the high-life of the aristocrat…

In Jack Jaeckin's first film, Emmanuelle was sexually reserved, and came out as she discovered her hidden sexuality… In the sequel, she explores further into the erotic domain—especially other women—in trying to find the perfect lover…

The characters are not real, but ethereal, dream-like creatures floating through life… This quality actually works quite well as Sylvia Kristel encounters other women… The eroticism is soft and sensual… When she confronts a man, however, there is a feeling only of performance… It's much more sharply refreshing and keen… The male lovers never seem to be as compassionate or as feeling as the women, nor are their characters as developed…

The photography is quite rich and luxuriant, and has captured a postcard view of modern Hong Kong

The second Emmanuelle movie is set in Hong Kong instead of Thailand, it is less provocative than the first and looks rather like a travel company's advertising clip. The story seems to be a random collection of impressions, it doesn't really have a beginning or a conclusive end. This may sound a bit negative so far, but despite the lack of dramatic action, it still is a movie I love to watch again and again. It's the only movie Francis Giacobetti ever directed, so maybe he didn't have much experience with actors, but he sure knew how to make pictures look great. Part 2 may well have the best musical score (by Francis Lai). One of the three masseuses in the steaming hot bath scene is the stunning Laura Gemser who'd become "Black Emanuelle" for a whole bunch of pictures. I voted 7/8/6/4/6/7 for the six cinema films of the series.

The sequel for the groundbreaking Emmanuelle welcomes back the gorgeous Sylvia Kristel (complete with a Kimberly Ryan hairstyle) in her second sexer. This time Emmanuelle and her husband (played by Umberto Orsini, a man I wish that I could look like) visit more of the Orient and Indonesia. Again, Emmanuelle (who's more confident about herself and her sexuality) has the time to have "philisophical discussions" wherever she goes, whether it would be in the bathtub, watching a microfilm movie short, in a locker room, a brothel, or getting acupuncture! Once again, we'll get to see the rituals and customs of the countries of the Far East, the same song being played during the "philisophical discussions", and a PYT thing who wants to learn from her (instead of the PYT teaching her). Once again I've seen the French and dubbed versions, and this time Kristel is dubbed by a more confident sounding woman, the voice of Emmanuelle from the first one seems to have been given to PYT Anna-Maria (Catherin Rivet).

All in all, almost as good as the first. BTW, one of the masseuses in the parlour Emmanuelle, Jean, and Anna-Maria visits is played by the gorgeous Laura Gemser, an Indonesian actress who would later play Emmanuelle in the series after Kristel decided to try her luck in more mainstream films in America.

I fell in love and lust with Sylvia Kristel after seeing this and the other 'Emmanuelle' films. She isn't typically beautiful, she isn't even the prettiest actress in most of her erotic films! But she has an innocence about her and a sexual hunger that has driven a lot men wild over the course of her career.

But! This is an enjoyable erotic little piece of fluff but at times you wish it was a bit of a harder version of soft core porn. They don't spend nearly enough time on the love scenes and frequently cut away when things are just getting interesting. But I did like the mysterious Orient setting, the acupuncture scene and the bit of animation that Sylvia watches on one of those old fashioned movie machines. You will too. This is probably best viewed at home in bed with a young lady friend if you catch my drift and I think you do...

"Emmanuelle 2" is an interesting relic of its era. That's not to say it's not explicit enough (it is, for a soft-core porn film), just that it has that decidedly pre-AIDS attitude about casual sexual encounters with multiple partners. The sex scenes deliver the goods, but the lack of a discernible plot may prove tiresome for some. This is a movie best enjoyed by using your fast-forward button to get to the scenes for which you rented the film in the first place (but you probably could have figured that out by yourself). (**1/2)