From the early 80’s The Inconfessable Orgies of Emmanuelle is a hedonistic softcore drama from prolific euro cult director Jess Franco. The film's fleshy unfold is often set within an air of vapid disquiet- with some wonderfully nuanced acting, moodily arty shot choice, and a soundtrack that seesaws between wavering off-key synth scaping/ easy listening & pared back Spanish guitar music to rather impactful results. Here from Severin is a Blu-Ray release of the film- taking in a new HD print of the film, interviews with both Franco expert Stephen Thrower & the director himself, and the next chapter in the ongoing In The Land Of Franco series- which finds Mr Thrower touring film sites.

The Inconfessable Orgies of Emmanuelle (aka Las orgías inconfesables de Emmanuelle, Emmanuelle Exposed, Emmanuelle Forever) appeared in the year 1982. In that same year, Franco released three other features- The Lake of the Virgins, Oasis Of Zombies, and Mansion Of The Living Dead. It was filmed in a seemingly fairly small-town set below the mountain scapes of Andalucía, Spain.

After the credits the film opens with a voiceover from double breast suited/ loves himself night club owner Marqués, as he walks his Alsatian dog around the town's narrow streets- he’s played by Tony Skios- who appeared in a few other Franco films such as Sex Is Crazy (1981), The Sinister Dr. Orloff( 1984), and Bahía Blanca(1985).  His voice-over talks about Emmauelle & her husband - who have recently arrived in town, and how fascinated he was by the pair. We then meet the couple with Emmauelle played by Muriel Montossé, and her husband Andreas played by Franco-regular Antonio Mayans. The couple buy tickets for the town wax works- first pondering what the wax figures of Bogard, Charlie Chaplin, and Dracula might be saying- before falling to the places floor- with him pulling off her clothes to have sex- while still commenting on what the figures might be saying.

We then switch to a scene in Marqués night club- where Emmauelle & Andreas are standing to watch the night performances. Which is a zipped leisure suit dressed dancer- this is soundtracked by this bright-yet-wonky keyboard churnings, and fairly soon the leisure suit is removed to find stockings and suspenders. The shots shift between the bar, and the laughing couple, the leering shouts of the club's crowd, and the stage- with a really tangible feeling of both vapid disquiet and subtle surrealism. At a point the stripper has removed her underwear and asks one of the crowd to come up on stage- Emmauelle rushes up, as the soundtrack switches to euro pop-edged take on a rock ‘n’ roll song- with the pair 69ing on stage, as the mortified & slowly breaking Andreas looks on.

 As the film unfolds Emmauelle has one sexual encounter after another- first with the town ‘lesbian’, later she is raped by two local men, and even has sex with Marqués- who is very much of a one-shot pump, even though he keeps boasting about being a noble/ great Spaniard, and an all-around stud. Mixed in with this both Marqués & Andreas also have fleshy encounters- but these are brief. The sex scenes are often filmed in a rather cold & at points uneasy manner- with the camera often drifting off the subject to hand to shots of the ragged mountainous landscape.

Clearly, Franco was tasked to make a straight 80’s softcore film with The Inconfessable Orgies of Emmanuelle- but he makes so much more out of the material. Moving from the often cold & vapid love scenes, which are often soundtracked with warped easy listening or discordant synth craft. Onto the moodily arty shot choices- one notable shot is where Marqués is shadow-face smoking while talking against the ragged, rocky landscape. Both Mayans and Skios give some rewardingly nuanced acting- with the former largely sitting in brokenness & melancholia, and the latter in pompous machoism. The female actresses have their moments- though none of them is up to long-term female collaborator/ muse Lina Romay. So, while The Inconfessable Orgies of Emmanuelle might not be as wholly impactful & involving as some of Franco’s early 80s output- there is most certainly worth & reward to be had here.

Moving onto this region free Blu Ray, and it features a wonderfully bright & bold HD scan of the film. On the extras side we get around an hour and a half worth of stuff- on the new side we have Emmanuelle Expose (28.41) which finds Franco expert/ author Stephen Thrower talking about the film, and as always it’s a most informative & rewarding featurette He begins by confirming that this was the 7th film the director made with Golden Films- it was filmed in May of 1982, then in the Spanish cinema of the same year. He talks about the small-town location, and how the film has a darker element- under its bright sunny location, and seemingly frivolous surface tone. He discusses how the rape is dealt with in a very unrealistic manner- as seemingly Emmanuelle forgets it all fairly soon. He finishes by declaring the film is ok, but has rather frustrating & contradictory loose ends. Next, we have In The Land Of Franco Part 9 (21.21) which finds Thrower with French Alain Petit journalist/ writer who got to know, then worked with Jess as both a scriptwriter & actor. The two are in Southern France visiting locations from Shinning Sex (1976), Lorna the Exorcist (1974), and Midnight Party (1976)- again another great addition to this seemingly unending series.

Finally, we have the archive Inconfessable Jess (17.22) here we get an onscreen interview with Franco- he first talks about the film in general, and how he didn’t like the rest of other Emmanuelle films. He talks about the film’s actresses and a few more things. Again, well worth a play.

 In finishing I’d say don’t be put off by The Inconfessable Orgies of Emmanuelle title, as there is more depth & worth here than just bland 1980’s softcore. With some great Franco moments and rewarding acting. This Severin Blu-Ray gives us both a bright & clear print, and a most worthy extra.