French director Juste Jaquin, who made the famous 1970s erotic film “Emmanuel,” a symbol of the sexual revolution of half a century ago that was an international success from Japan to the United States, died on Tuesday at the age of 82. AFP reports.

“Just Jaeckin, director of “Emmanuel”, together with Sylvia Christel, died on September 6 in Brittany after a long illness at the age of 82 (…). He died alongside his wife Anne, a sculptor, and his daughter Julia, a photographer,” a family spokesman announced on Wednesday.

Emmanuelle, the biggest success of 1974 in France with almost 9 million tickets sold, remained on the screens of cinemas on the Champs-Élysées in Paris for 13 years. The film tells about the sexual adventures of a young woman in Asia.

Having become a social phenomenon, the film was seen in the cinema by several tens of millions of viewers from all over the world, and if we take into account the support of other media, then much more.

Now available to watch on demand, Emmanuel has been on the Netflix platform for some time in 2020. Not recommended for under 16s, it has been described as a “romantic” film.

The film, an adaptation of the erotic bestseller of the same name

“Emmanuel” is an adaptation of the erotic bestseller of the same name, signed by Emmanuel Arsand and published in 1959.

Producer Yves Rousse-Roir, who wanted to entrust the project to a young director, approached Just Jackin, a fashion and celebrity photographer, excited about the opportunity to make a feature film.

After being reviewed by the French Film Commission in 1974, the film would have been censored if some footage had not been removed.

But after the death of French President Georges Pompidou, a new secretary of state for culture was appointed, who allowed the film to be released.

The name of Silvia Kristel, associated with the production “Emmanuel”.

After the premiere of the film, Sylvia Christel, among other images, was classified as an “easy woman” and became the subject of various rumors, including an idyll with President Valéry Giscard d’Estaing, information that the actress denied it.

After the success of the film, the name of the actress will remain associated with this erotic saga consisting of four films. Other films followed, more or less inspired by Emmanuel, but without Sylvia Christel in the cast.

After Emmanuel Just Jackin will shoot “Histoire d’O” and “L’amant de Lady Chatterley”, in the latter Sylvia Christel plays the role of an English aristocrat who lives a passionate affair with her gardener.

The actress, who struggled with drug and alcohol addiction after critical acclaim and fame, died of cancer at the age of 60 in 2012. In 2006, she published an autobiographical book called “Nue”.

“Sylvia was a wonderful woman, very pure, very naive. The name “Krystel” suited her very well. She was stunned, as was I, by the way, the Emmanuel Tsunami. Emmanuelle’s red iron was very difficult for her,” Just Jackin told AFP in 2012, after the actress’ death.

The success of the film Emmanuel and director Just Jackin

The success of “Emmanuel” “disturbed and overshadowed Jackin’s polymorphous talent” as a photographer, advertising director and sculptor, which he had been doing before directing this production, emphasized the director’s entourage.

Born in 1940 in Vichy, Juste Jackin owned an art gallery in Paris with his wife, where their paintings and sculptures were mainly exhibited. (Source Agerpres)