Falconeer "Goodbye Emmanuelle" is considered by many to be the last "official" entry in the "Emmanuelle" series. This time around, the action shifts to the beautiful and exotic Seychilles Islands, where the lovely and sexually liberated Emmanuelle finds herself questioning her beliefs about sex, and about love. This elegantly filmed third installment begins like the others, with the architect's wife meeting and having sexual encounters with the attractive cast of men and women on the island. Before long however, the film shifts gears, when a young and extremely handsome film director enters the picture, and awakens in Emmanuelle, some feelings that she thought had long ago been buried. "Goodbye Emmanuelle" is the perfect final chapter in the series, wrapping everything up in a smart, believable way. This moral fable makes the point that open relationships, complete with anonymous sex, can become a very lonely and sad way to live. Emmanuelle begins to realize that her husband's guise of carefree sexuality, is merely a way to hide his own insecurities. When put to the test, he fails miserably, by resorting to petty lies and games to hold onto the woman, that he realizes too late, really loves and depends on. If this does not sound like the storyline for an erotic film, it is because this is not really an erotic film. The sex scenes are kept to a minimum, and when there is an erotic scene, the camera does not linger for long. In fact, these scenes appear to have been a mere after-thought, taking a back seat to the more serious drama at hand.Viewed as a stand-alone feature, "Goodbye Emmanuelle" plays like a slightly above-average melodrama, it's gorgeous cinematography elevating it a cut above the rest. But when viewed in context with the other two films in the series, this becomes something very special indeed. For during these three very different films, we see this character "Emmanuelle" evolve continually. In the first chapter, Emmanuelle is a young and innocent girl, with somewhat traditional views on sexuality and marriage. She is taught, by various friends about open marriage, and carnal desire. In part 2, Emmanulle has traded her short, severe hairstyle, for a long, flowing mane of red hair, indicating her newfound "freedom." Viewing these two films back to back, it is amazing how different she is in the second installment. By the time she settles down in the Seychilles with her husband, she has changed yet again, and she no longer carries herself with the same air of self confidence. Rather, she appears to be uncertain about the direction of her life. Perhaps Sylvia Kristel was not given enough credit for her acting abilities. She carries these films alone, and does an unforgettable job lending this fictional character an authenticity seldom seen in film. For fans of the series, "Goodbye Emmanuelle" is a must-see. Of the three films, (or four if you include Emmanuelle IV) is the most understated, and most elegantly-filmed of the series. For a change, many will notice that the men are attractive here as well as the women. The whole cast is in fact quite beautiful. It is a somewhat rare title, but the DVD from the Netherlands is the highest quality edition available, presented in a gorgeous 2;35 aspect ratio, and featuring the original French audio. It is the only way to watch these special films.

Tracy_Terry_Moore Erotic and exotic film set in the Seychelles starring gorgeous Sylvia Kristel as 'Emmanuelle', the sexual adventuress.When Emmanuelle's open marriage allows her to meet and fall in love with island visitor 'Peter' (Jean-Pierre Bouvier), she begins drifting away from her husband and into her new lover's arms. Things get complicated when Emmanuelle's husband objects and tries to separate the two causing them to fall deeper in love. Very pretty film with breath-taking scenery and nice tropical music is one of the better 'Emmanuelle' offerings.Beautifully directed by Francois Letterier.

jaibo This is a surprisingly moving last edition of the original Emmanuelle trilogy, with the title character becoming tired of her complaisant husband and the endless rounds of meaningless swinger sex she is expected to engage in whilst living in their paradise home in the Seychelles. A hunky young film director comes to the Island to scout locations, and one look into his eyes (whilst she is being schtupped by some random shag) reminds Emmanuelle what it is really like to be desired by and to desire an individual. Much to the chagrin of her husband, Emmanuelle embarks on a sexual romance with the director and finds that he stirs emotional feelings and needs which she thought her years of swinging had deadened. By the end of the film, she is ready to put all of that behind her and head for the new pastures of a monogamous, committed relationship.Compared to the low smut and tasteless hardcore of much erotic cinema, Goodbye, Emmanuelle is undoubtedly high-class product. The film, shot in luscious 'scope and finely showing the travelogue beauty of the Seychelles, is gorgeous to look at and beautifully composed. Moreover, the performances of Kristel and Umberto Orsini as Emmanuelle and her husband have real depth and emotional truth. He especially well conveys the dumb incomprehension of a complaisant roué whose free love slogans are a mask for old fashioned chauvinism and ownership values and who feels the tug of jealousy for the last time, too late in fact as his smug indifference catches up with him and he loses the person he shares his life with. His final gambit - lying to Emmanuelle about phone calls and letters from her lover - is the nearest the Emmanuelle series gets to gripping drama, and it's satisfying to see the ropey old swinger get dumped as he fully deserves.This is an odd, resigned, bitter-sweet end to the original Kristel trilogy. It could be said that the series makers are rather having their cake and eating it - that, having made a fortune from promoting lubricious excess and preaching sexual freedom, to have their heroine reject these values and plump for monogamy is rather rich coming from them. But the seventies were an age in which people realised that the sexual revolution got people high but had its come-down; that endless freedom to shag whoever you want is a prison cell not a freedom road. Even more intriguing are the subtle glimpses of the colonialism which allows the wealthy Emmanuelle and partner to indulge their jaded desires - a native caddie revealed at the far side of the frame, a garage with a Shell sign, a mention of the spice trade and pirates with black slaves. The characters live in a paradise which a snake had long ago poisoned. This is poignant social history, and feels the right kind of end to a dream in silk sheets.

lazarillo This movie is probably the most unpopular of 1970's French "Emmanuelle" series because it is definitely the least erotic. The sex scenes are all pretty brief and tame (especially compared to its immediate predecessor "Emmanuelle 2"). After actually looking attractive in the first sequel, Sylvia Kristel is back to her tomboy, uber-European look. The supporting female cast meanwhile doesn't begin to compare to the likes of Laura Gemser and Catherine Rivet (the voluptuous Charlotte Alexandra from "Immoral Tales" is featured but is pretty much wasted in a few throwaway scenes). Frankly, the sexiest thing about this movie is actress/singer Jane Birkin's voice in the catchy theme song (dueting with husband Serg Gainsbourg), but she is not actually in the movie.On the other hand, this is the only "Emmanuelle" movie ever to approach what some might call reality. In this movie the Emmanuelle character actually tires of her boorish, jaded husband and all the menage a trois and swinging affairs with other men that he pushes her into, more for his pleasure than hers. She is taken aback when she sees a young black girl, who they earlier had a threesome with, after she has been beaten by her clueless but jealous husband, and she finds her own husband's latest would-be blonde conquest vapid and unappealing. She begins an affair with a young film director and actually falls in love. Jealously then rears its ugly head, as her husband finds out and tries to sabotage the relationship. I won't give away the ending, but you could probably guess it from the title.It's rare (and some would say foolhardy)to make a sex film that realistically deals with real-life, and potentially depressing, issues like this. In a way this film kind of marked the end of the "free love" era of the 60's and 70's. That is not to say that this is a good or serious film compared to say "Last Tango in Paris", but for this series. . .well, it's worth seeing if you don't mind trading some of sex for a little bit of reality.