7 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 2.5 | |
Overall | 2.5 |
Erotic | 100% |
Crime | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.66:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.66:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono
French: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono
English SDH
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A (B, C untested)
Movie | 2.0 | |
Video | 4.5 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 4.0 | |
Overall | 2.5 |
Note: This film is available on Blu-ray as part of Severin's The Sensual World of Black Emanuelle release.
Kier-la Janisse gave film fans one of the most outstanding boxed sets of the last few years with All the Haunts Be Ours: A Compendium of Folk Horror, a late 2021
release that ended up making my Best of 2022 list. Janisse is back now with another gigantic boxed set, one that's even bigger than the folk horror
compendium, and one that may appeal to a certain niche audience who may not have been especially interested in that earlier set. Those who may
remember the rating system of days of yore will probably recall the "M" designation, which meant "for mature audiences only", and if I may be
permitted an orthographic joke that is admittedly a bit arcane, some might argue that Emanuelle gave up one of her "m"'s in favor of
three x's, at least with regard to
some cuts
of the many Black Emanuelle films. For those not conversant with the history of this perceived franchise, and who may be scratching
their
heads at my "joke" (what else is new?), Black Emanuelle was a pretty blatant attempt to cash in on Emmanuelle, and in order to avoid any potential legal hassles one of those original
"m"'s in the title character's name got dropped. Furthermore, as supplements on many of the discs included in this set offer, there were hardcore
XXX
inserts
(in more ways than one) that at least some of the Black Emanuelle productions offered. Joke explained, hopefully. Perhaps even more
comedically
than my fitful attempt at humor, the Black Emanuelle series ended up offering many more films than its perceived progenitor, and 24 of
them (with additional cuts) are aggregated in this at times overwhelming collection. This is a collection where the quality of the films may be highly
debatable, though it's salient to note that the supplements both overtly reference and are in and of themselves examples of perhaps unexpected
critical scrutiny this franchise has engendered, and anyone interested in this kind of bizarre franchise mash up of what might be called porno,
mondo and gonzo will most likely find this an amazing set to dive into.
Divine Emanuelle is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Severin Films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.66:1. Severin's almost overwhelming book The Black Emanuelle Bible included with this set offers a brief description of the transfer, as follows:
Source: 4K scan of original camera negative.As briefly mentioned above, the presentation also starts with this text card:
The following presentation of Divine Emanuelle - under its first commercially released title Love Camp - is considered the official and final cut, although it was in fact the product of extensive reshoots and re-editing to turn what was intended as a mostly serious (albeit knowingly over the top) musical drama into the raunchy cult classic it would become.This is one of the more sumptuous looking presentations in the Black Emanuelle set, with a really nicely saturated palette that makes the most of the many outdoor locations, as well as some generally quite impressive detail levels throughout. There is still the tendency toward dewy soft focus at times, especially with regard to some of Gemser's High Priestess scenes, but on the whole this transfer offers a really nicely sharp and crisp accounting of the source element.
To capitalize on star Laura Gemser's connection to the Black Emanuelle franchise, certain distributors marketed the film under the title Divine Emanuelle, which we have adopted for this release in keeping with the Emanuelle theme.
Interestingly, Divine Emanuelle departs from the "tradition" of many of the other films in this set by offering French or English language versions (rather than Italian or English) presented in DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono. The French track has slightly more noticeable hiss but dialogue can be mixed louder in the French version, so it's kind of a trade off. Both tracks provide capable support for the goofy music and equally goofy dialogue. Optional English subtitles are available.
During the reconstruction of Christian Anders' original and unreleased Fanatico. . . version of Divine Emanuelle, its 35mm workprint was used as a reference for returning the long edited footage back to its intended place and order. While negative elements were located for all of the cut material, one brief shot was conspiculously missing in the trims despite being present in the workprint. As we were unsure if its absence indicated a loss of material or a creative decision to remove it from the first completed version of the film, we elected to include it here as an extra.
In October of 1980 when Christian Anders first completed shooting what would eventually become Divine Emanuelle, it was envisioned as a very different film. Anders' original cut remained the stuff of mystery and legend. . .until now!
Through careful reconstruction of the original negative along with section of edited interpositive, Severin presents the worldwide debut - in any format - of Fanatico. . .When the Goddess Calls, at least allowing you to experience this demented masterpiece as its creator first intended.
This is one of the more interesting discs in the Black Emanuelle set, not necessarily for the actual feature film, but probably more so with regard to Anders' "original" version, which is almost gobsmackingly weird. Technical merits are generally solid (especially video).
(Still not reliable for this title)
Emanuelle e le porno notti nel mondo n. 2
1978
Notti porno nel mondo
1977
Unleashed Perversions of Emanuelle
1983
Gola Profonda Nera
1977
Le notti porno nel mondo nº 2
1978
Voglia di guardare
1986
Emanuelle nera nº 2 / The New Black Emanuelle
1976
Sexy Erotic Love
1980
Suor Emanuelle
1977
Emanuelle nera
1975
Inferno rosso: Joe D'Amato sulla via dell'eccesso
2021
The Real Emanuelle
1974
Emanuelle nera: Orient reportage
1976
Emanuelle - Perché violenza alle donne? / The Degradation of Emanuelle
1977
La Mujer de la Tierra Caliente
1978
Black Emanuelle White Emanuelle / Velluto nero
1976
The Dirty Seven / La belva dalla calda pelle
1982
Black Cobra Woman / Eva nera
1976
La via della prostituzione
1978
1977