That Scene - STEVEN R. TABOR

That Scene

How does imagination inform pleasure?

Emmanuelle is a 1974 French drama film, starring Sylvia Kristel in the title role about the wife of a French diplomat in Bangkok, who embarks on a voyage of sexual discovery. Despite negative reviews by the critics on its initial release in France, it was one of the highest-grossing French films of its time. Columbia Pictures released both the original version and an English-dubbed version in the United States theatrically, making it the first X-rated film ever released by the company.

In one scene in the film, Emmanuelle is approached by a pretty young girl, played by Christine Boisson, who is called Marie-Ange in the film. Marie-Ange asks to visit her at her home. Later she arrives at Emmanuelle’s house and finds her sleeping, and takes advantage of the situation to explore her body. Emmanuelle wakes up and they go outside and sit in a pair of peacock chairs. Marie-Ange asks Emmanuelle if she has any photos of herself and her husband Jean having sex. After Emmanuelle replies that she does not, Marie-Ange takes out a French magazine with a photo of the actor Paul Newman and begins to masturbate in front of Emmanuelle. After she finishes, Emmanuelle does the same, while imaging herself having sex with a stranger on a plane.

This scene, with the two actresses in peacock chairs, was quite controversial at the time the film was released. That a woman could explore her sexuality and that sexual desire was rooted in a woman’s imagination, may seem obvious now, but in the 1970s, such views were well ahead of their time. This photo series pays tribute to the scene with Sylvia Kristel and Christene Boisson, but with a model, Dafne, acting out both roles, and making use of technology circa-2021.

If you'd like to see the full series, download the PDF catalogue here.