Cinema’a Ancient Emmanuelle is dead, ‘says director of a new version of the classic EroticAudrey Diwan releases the film at the first European Film Festival IMOVision, which takes place until April 30 in several cities of the country.

Whoever goes to the cinema watch the new Emmanuellewhich is on display at the 1st European Film Festival Imovision, waiting for an experience that refers to the 1974 classic, can be frustrated. “The old Emmanuelle is dead“, said the director Audrey Diwan in conversation with Cinebuzzpartner of Rolling Stone Brazilabout the novelty.

As in the erotic classic, starring Sylvia Kristelthe new Emmanuelle It is inspired by the book of the same name of Emmanuelle Arsanwhich tells the story of a woman on a journey of sexual discovery.

In the movie, Emmanuellelived by Noémie Merlantfrom Portrait of a young girl on fire (2019) and Okay (2022), search for lost pleasure. She flies alone to Hong Kong for a professional trip and, in this sensual urban world, multiplies experiences when finding a mysterious man.

For the second time in Brazil – first it was fifteen years ago -, Audrey He spoke about his expectations for the reception of Brazilians with his reinterpretation of the erotic classic. “When you talk about sexuality, I know that every territory and every culture will react differently, but I can’t predict what the reaction will be,” he said.

However, she highlighted a positive surprise: “I have to say that from the conversations I had today, I may be in one of the countries that most understand what I wanted to do.”This connection, she said, is always surprising and provokes reflections on the country’s culture.”It’s great when this happens.”

Relationship between its version and the old Emmanuelle

Audrey recognizes that the old version of Emmanuelle It is well known in Brazil, thanks to the screenings in the dawn of Cine Privé, and reveals that recognition also happens in France.

However, she says frankly: “Honestly, I never saw the Emmanuelle old. Just the first 17 minutes. ” Therefore, the director did not based her approach to the previous work and did not feel influenced by her, not knowing how fans of the iconic erotic session of open TV can react:

“I can’t try to predict how people will react to the old movie, because I don’t know the old movie”justified.

Birth of the project

The project of Emmanuelle started when the producers delivered the book to Audrey. At first she refused: “He said, ‘Thank you, it’s a funny book, but I won’t make a movie about it.’”

Months later, the image of a woman with broken pleasure arose in her mind: “This woman was in my head.It was at this moment that she decided to follow the journey of this character and again spoke to the producer: “Is it still possible? Because I just saw this woman and I’m interested in her.”

Adaptation of the book

Although the film originates in the book of Emmanuelle Arsanthe French filmmaker reveals that she hardly used the original material: “I kept very few things.”For her, the most important was the conceptual inspiration:“The book inspired me because it opened questions.”

Audrey mentions a long conversation between the character Emmanuelle And an older man about what eroticism is, a question that stayed with her: “Can we use eroticism as a language today? Is it still a language that interests people?”And adds:“Eroticism is not just about sex scenes. It’s something you try to define through the atmosphere of the whole movie.”

Audrey quotes the movie as an example Skin Flower Lovefrom WONG KAR WAI: “Even without showing naked bodies, even without sexuality, they are just people bumping into corridors. This is eroticism.”

Challenges in set filming

When asked about the biggest challenge during filming, Audrey revealed that it was to portray the female orgasm: “Because, of course, many women pretend orgasms, as it is difficult to get there.”

She comments that she likes to challenge the composers she works with. In your previous movie, The event (2021), she asked the musicians to transform contractions into music. “They said, ‘But we are men.’ And I answered: ‘No problem. I had two children, I will explain what contractions are ‘”, Remembered, between laughs.

In this new work, Audrey asked for something even bolder: “A song that told about a body returning to life, organ by organ, cell by cell.”The most striking moment, for her, was the long sequence of orgasm recording, with the actress Noémie Merlant. “We spent 10 hours trying to do this. And in the end, when we were really tired, when we no longer tried to control, it happened.”

The use of the intimacy coordinator

The director states that working with an intimacy coordinator was essential. “The most important was before the shoot,”He explained. She said she didn’t want to choreograph the scenes:“Sex is not dance for me. If you choreograph something, it will be perfect. And the whole movie works against the idea of ​​perfection.”

For that to work, Audrey He created an open space of conversation with the entire team so that everyone understood the meaning of sex scenes. “I’m shy”She confessed. She also said that many questioned her choice to accept the work: “’You will do Emmanuelle? But you are very pudden for that. ‘ And I answered, ‘No, I will surpass my own limits.’ ”

Conversations between the team became natural: “Do you think she should ask him to lick her nipple?”He recalled.“Suddenly, I was no longer ashamed.”The presence of the coordinator enabled freedom and security:“THE Noémie He said to me, ‘I was never so far away because I knew it was in control.’”

Naomi Watts participation

The actress Naomi Watts has a small participation in Emmanuelle as an executive of the hotel network in which the character of Merlant It is hosted. Audrey He praised the actress’s ability to deal with ambiguity. “When I created this character, she had authority, but it was a little hard.”It was the actress who suggested softness:“‘I think she should be smiling, because she is soft and at the same time has authority.’”

According to the director, this is where the strength of the character comes. “She brought this idea that she is always smiling, but you don’t know what she is thinking.”The director still associates the actress with a climate David Lynch: “Wherever it appears, she carries it.”

Choice of Noémie Merlant as protagonist

About the choice of Noémie Merlant to live Emmanuelle, Audrey He said that the actress read the script and, in an hour, already wanted the role. “She wanted this role for a good reason: she doesn’t care about marks or fame.”The connection with the character was deep:“She has already lived this disconnection between mind and body.”

The director revealed that Merlant It speaks openly about female pleasure. “She said in interviews: ‘It happened to me that I no longer feel pleasure.’”After a coffee, the decision was made:“Half an hour later, I said, ‘Do you want to be Emmanuelle?’ It was very clear that she was the right person.”

Public reactions to sex scenes

There is a portion of the current audience that questions and rejects the presence of sex scenes in the movies. The director shows empathy for them, if they don’t want to watch her movie: “If people don’t want to see sex scenes on the screen – and I respect that – they just won’t come [assistir a Emmanuelle]. And it’s okay for me. ”

Audrey He believes this rejection often comes from trauma, especially for poorly conducted sex scenes: “Because the actors were used the wrong way.”However, she defends the purpose of the scenes of her movie:“I would never do a sex scene without knowing what its role in the narrative.Its goal is to provoke reflection and understanding of sexuality, and therefore was confident with the process.

“The old Emmanuelle is dead“

Audrey still left a message to readers of Cinebuzzwhich intend to watch its version of Emmanuelle: “My expectation is that people can break free from what they already know about it [a antiga Emmanuelle] so they can board a new journey.”And he concluded, in a joke:”Tell your readers that the old Emmanuelle It’s dead.“

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