"Emmanuelle V" is the first entry in the infamous series to not feature Sylvia Kristel, the Dutch actress who made the character legend. Monique Gabrielle takes the reins, and is admittedly awful in the role; her acting is abysmal, and she lacks the classy, Euro-style beauty of Kristel, and even Mia Nygren, who was featured in "Emmanuelle IV." It is easy to dismiss this as trash, but the film does possess a unique style, and features some striking, avant garde imagery throughout. This opinion is based on the European theatrical version, as I have yet to see the version edited and altered by Roger Corman for North American release. The Euro version runs for 84 minutes, and features almost non-stop nudity and sex, which is what one expects from this genre. E5 is an editing disaster, random, surreal imagery is splattered across the screen, in a jarring, repetitive style. For the first half hour, the film seems to go nowhere, but it certainly gets better when Emmanuelle heads to the Middle East, to find herself entrapped in Prince Rajid's harem. There are some truly fine sequences, like when Emmanuelle is picked up and driven to the Prince's castle, by the Arab boy who calls himself Rocky Stallone! The boy seems to be enamored by Western culture, calling himself Rocky and popping in a cassette of silly 80's rock music. When Emmanuelle tries to give him some money, he refuses, wanting instead, only a kiss from the beautiful movie star Emmanuelle. The boy meets with a sad fate later in the film, while Emmanuelle must escape the fanatic Rajid. "Emmanuelle 5" is a garish, but undeniably stylish and entertaining film. Very politically incorrect, these kinds of films simply are not made today. Obviously this entry in the series is only connected to the first four in name only. Emmanuelle is not the classy and delicate French wife of an Ambassador, but rather an airhead, bleach blond American film star. There is no other connection, and this film can be watched on it's own. The uncut European DVD is the one to look for, however director Walerian Borocyvk claims in interviews that he had little to do with the filming of either version. This is a bit hard to believe as so much imagery seen here is exactly his style. Not a very good film, but this one certainly deserves a cult following.
Review of Emmanuelle 5
