This film is taking itself way too seriously….
I had that thought 16 minutes into Emmanuelle. A remake of the wonderfully trashy 70s film that made a star (of sorts) out of Sylvia Kristel, this version of Emmanuelle takes itself way too seriously. It should be noted that no one is under the impression that the original Emmanuelle films or any of the unofficial spin-offs were high art. The first film may have pretended to be about something but, ultimately, it was a trashy sex romp that was made because some folks wanted to make a lot of money. That’s one reason why the original film and Kristel’s version of the character continue to be popular. Both were totally shameless and unapologetic.
The remake, though, is boring. Emmanuelle (played by Noemie Merlant) even has a boring job. She works in quality control for a large chain of luxury hotels. That’s right, quality control. This film reimagines Emmanuelle as being the female version of Creed from The Office Emmanuelle has been sent to Hong Kong so that she can evaluate a hotel that is being managed by Margot (Naomi Watts). The company has tasked Emmanuelle with finding an excuse to fire Margot and Emmanuelle is feeling conflicted about it. Let me tell you, there’s nothing sexier than quality control.
Emmanuelle has several sexual experiences while staying at the hotel. The sensuality of Hong Kong gets to her. While wearing a towel, she flirts with a nervous room steward. She touches herself in front of an escort who hangs out at the hotel’s pool and she gets upset when Margot sends the escort and her friends away. Emmanuelle wanders through the film with a blank expression on her face, staring at things that are often happening off-camera. Hong Kong is presented as being a world where everything is for sale and no desires are forbidden. If this was one of Joe D’Amato’s Black Emanuelle films, the decadence would probably be strange and entertaining. However, since this is an Emmanuelle film that takes itself seriously, it’s kind of boring.
In fact, this film really does get caught up in the whole “Will Emmanuelle get Margot fired?” plot. That is probably the least interesting part of the movie but the filmmakers really do want us to understand that Emmanuelle could lose her job if she doesn’t give Margot a bad report. But honestly, who cares? This film makes the mistake of assuming that “quality control” is a lot more exciting than it actually is.
Emmanuelle does fall in love over the course of the film. Kei (Will Sharpe) is an enigmatic guest who hasn’t had sex in “two or three years” because he lost his desire. He’s suffering from ennui! Emmanuelle yells at Kei for smoking in the hotel but she’s attracted to him as well. At least, that’s what the film wants us to believe. Merchant and Sharpe have so little chemistry — romantic or sexual — that it’s hard to really care. They have some philosophical discussions, the type of stuff that even Zalman King would have dismissed as being rather pretentious.
The main problem, as I said before, is that this film just isn’t fun. It gets bogged down with its plot and Merlant, Watts, and Sharpe all sleepwalk through their roles. This film should have been glorious trash. Instead, it’s just dull.
