Tokyo Emmanuelle — Tokyo Emmanuelle( Blu Ray)
Tokyo Emmanuelle is a blend of roman porno and euro softcore, with light arty ‘n’ moody touches. It regards a Japanese woman going back home, after falling out with her French lover, to go on a journey of sexual discovery, some of which isn’t consensual. This Blu-ray is part of 88 Films Nikkatsu Studios series, which sees the label reissue Roman Porno films the studio released in the 70s- taking in new film scan, new commentary track, and other extras.
Tokyo Emanuelle (aka Tokyo Emmanuelle Fujino, Wild Emmanuelle, Love in Tokyo) is from the year 1975. It was directed by Tokyo-born Akira Katô. Between the early 1970s and early 1980’s he had forty-one feature credits to his name, and these all seem to sit in the sleazier side of things. With titles like Love Makes Me Wet (1973), Lusty Afternoon (1977), Woman Arches Her Back (1980), and Sexy Pudding: Almost Addictive (1983).
The film runs for an hour and ten minutes- we open in Paris in a sort of semi-black and white stock. We meet twenty-something Kyoko (Kumi Taguchi) in her plush, 1920s furniture-laden apartment. She hasn’t heard from her boyfriend Pierre for four days. She is chatting with her friend Eiko (Mitsuko Aoi) on the phone, who says not to worry and that she should come back to Tokyo for a break. She agrees- and just before we leave Paris, we get some wonderful atmospheric shots of the Eiffel Tower in the fog.
After we touch down in Tokyo, and Kyoko is picked up in a red convertible, we switch to proper colour- with Kyoko going through a series of sexual encounters, with a thin plot woven around things, with her later meeting the large collared & thick white side-burned university professor Maki(Fujio Murakami) teach her lesson in the flesh.
The encounters start with a drugged-in-a-car feel-up, followed by a sucking/ licking corn dog session, and move through your fairly run-of-the-mill bedroom encounters. Going all the way to the more wacky/ bizarre- like a threesome on the back of a horse, and in a moving cable car. At points, the encounters push towards the hard side of the softcore- so this is most certainly more of an all-out porn movie, unlike some Roman Porno’s where these elements are more subtle.
The film is well enough scoped, with a blend of moody to more leering shots. The film features a classy soundtrack- this moves between elegant & sleazy groovy jazz. The cast is largely fine, with quite a few of them getting sweaty, hot and bothered. With our pleasure-seeking lead Taguchi shifting from panicked and pushing away, to various stages of in lust/ throws of passion.
The blending of Asian and European softcore is well done, though I’d say it leans more towards the latter side of things- cashing in on the Emmanuelle name, and it does very much feel like those films. So, I’d say if that’s your bag, this will appeal.
The new scan of the film balances looking moody/atmospheric and bright/bold. On the extras side, we have a couple of things- first is a commentary with genre/ sleaze experts David Flint and Jasper Sharp. They begin by talking about how the film is a curious highbred/ most unusual Roman porno, and we find out this was one of the only Roman pornos to get a UK cinema release in the 70’s. They discuss the film's opening credits song was sung by Kenji Sawada, who had been the head singer of The Tigers- a popular Group sounds band- we also get a bio of Mr Sawada, who went on to acting in a few films. We find out there was a sequel to this film entitled Private Lessons, which also features Taguchi, and appeared the same year. We get a potted history of the original Emmanuelle & the impact it made. They discuss way the film bridges eastern and western sexual philosophy. Later on, they discuss how Taguch got paid well for her lead role, and a bio. They point out striking shots, and debate whether the whole thing could be taking place in the lead character's mind, and she never left Paris. All in all, a most interesting/ informative.
Next, we get Lost In Translation (18.18) with Kei Chiba, where he gives an introduction to the Roman Porno genre at large. And Emmanuelle In Tokyo (7.24) with Mio Hatokai- talking about the film at hand. Both of these are in Japanese with English subtitles.
Tokyo Emmanuelle is another worthy addition to 88 Films Nikkatsu Studios series. And as mentioned earlier, it will appeal to those looking for more formal soft core, with some of it pushing at the hard side of fleshy action.