FRANCE/NETHERLANDS: 'Emmanuelle' director, Just Jaeckin remembers his star, Sylvia Kristel, who has died in The Netherlands, age 60

Record ID: 770193

  • Title: FRANCE/NETHERLANDS: 'Emmanuelle' director, Just Jaeckin remembers his star, Sylvia Kristel, who has died in The Netherlands, age 60
  • Date: 18th October 2012
  • Summary: PARIS, FRANCE (OCTOBER 18, 2012) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF EXTERIORS OF GALLERY OF EMMANUELLE DIRECTOR JUST JAECKIN VARIOUS OF JAECKIN LOOKING AT PICTURE OF DUTCH-BORN ACTRESS SYLVIA KRISTEL (SOUNDBITE) (French) 'EMMANUELLE' DIRECTOR JUST JAECKIN SAYING: "I am totally proud of this film, where she was fantastic. She was generous, beautiful and extraordinary. She is extraordinary. My best memory, I always say it, was when all the French actresses had refused to do the film and I met Sylvia. I was terrified she would refuse. But she said: 'I trust you'. That's the best memory I have of her. Thank you Sylvia for having trusted me." SCULPTURE (SOUNDBITE) (English) 'EMMANUELLE' DIRECTOR JUST JAECKIN SAYING: "I'm sad because Sylvia... she was part of my life. She's like part of my family. She was like a small sister to me because we did Emmanuelle together. We started together and we had the same reactions and problems with this film. On the one hand we were destroyed after the success of the film, after 40 years it is becoming like a classic. But when it opened, it was like a disaster. Sylvia, she was so attacked." PARIS STREET (SOUNDBITE) (French) OLIVIER VANUXEM, A PASSER-BY, SAYING: "It was a film that everybody talked about. It marked a point in society, eroticism and cinematography. It was a turning point. It was emblematic of a whole period. There was an Emmanuelle decor -- the famous wicker chair. It's that 70's, rather old-fashioned eroticism." (SOUNDBITE) (French) FRANCINE, A PASSER-BY, SAYING: "It marked the time as being one of the first mainstream erotic films that could be seen by all and not just in triple X backstreet porn cinemas." AMSTERDAM, THE NETHERLANDS (OCTOBER 18, 2012) (REUTERS) KRISTEL'S HOUSE IN AMSTERDAM (SOUNDBITE) (English) FRANCK, A NEIGHBOUR, SAYING: "She has had very bad months because everybody knows she had cancer. The doctors did not want to treat her anymore. But we can remember her as a very liveful and enthusiastic girl, woman." MORE OF KRISTEL'S HOUSE (SOUNDBITE) (English) BRIGITTE, A NEIGHBOUR, SAYING: "She was very lovely and she loved to talk with people. And she loves to work. And she, she had just started before she was ill with the Calendar Girls, the play. But had she cancel that." EXTERIORS OF KRISTEL'S HOUSE
  • Embargoed: 2nd November 2012 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Netherlands, France
  • City:
  • Country: Netherlands
  • Topics: People
  • Reuters ID: LVA364EVQSNDPA5V6WZPHC5W83FF
  • Story Text: Directors, neighbours and ordinary people on Thursday (October 18) mourned the passing of Sylvia Kristel, the Dutch actress who was known to millions around the world for her portrayal of Emmanuelle in the iconic French erotic movie that sealed the arrival of the sexual revolution in France.
    The former Dutch beauty queen died of cancer aged 60 in the Netherlands after suffering from the disease since the start of the century. She starred in a string of movies, but none earnt her the prominence that she won with Emmanuelle, which came out in 1974 -- one of the first erotic movies to be shown in mainstream cinemas in France.
    Emmanuelle director Just Jaeckin said he had despaired of finding an actress who could star in the role of the French housewife who had followed her executive husband to Asia.
    "All the French actresses had refused to do the film and I met Sylvia. I was terrified she would refuse. But she said: 'I trust you'. That's the best memory I have of her. Thank you Sylvia for having trusted me," he said.
    He added he felt she was part of his family because of all the troubles they both had to go through after the release of Emmanuelle.
    "I'm sad because Sylvia... she was part of my life. She's like part of my family. She was like a small sister to me because we did Emmanuelle together. We started together and we had the same reactions and problems with this film. On the one hand we were destroyed after the success of the film, after 40 years it is becoming like a classic. But when it opened, it was like a disaster. Sylvia, she was so attacked," he said.
    On the streets of Paris, residents recalled the film and Kristel as symbolising a certain kind of kitch of the 1970s.
    "It marked a point in society, eroticism and cinematography. It was a turning point. It was emblematic of a whole period. There was an Emmanuelle decor -- the famous wicker chair. It's that 70's, rather old-fashioned eroticism," said Olivier Vanuxem, one Parisian.
    In Amsterdam neighbours remembered a bright, happy person, even when her disease was beyond treatment.
    "She has had very bad months because everybody knows she had cancer. The doctors did not want to treat her anymore. But we can remember her as a very liveful and enthusiastic girl, woman," said Franck, one neighbour.
    After initially being banned, Emmanuelle's release was allowed a few months after it was due to premiere. It recorded more than a million viewers in one Paris cinema alone, which showed the film for 11 years.
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