It stars Sylvia Kristel in the title role about a woman who takes a trip to Bangkok to enhance her sexual experience.

After Emmanuelle replies she does not, Marie-Ange takes a French magazine with a photo of the actor Paul Newman and begins to masturbate in front of her.

Emmanuelle confesses to Marie-Ange that while she did not cheat on her husband in Paris, she did have sex with two strangers on the flight over to Bangkok.

Frustrated, Emmanuelle decides to meet with Mario, stating that at his age, making love becomes so difficult that any man capable of it must be an artist.

At dinner, Mario tells Emmanuelle that monogamy will soon die out and that she must learn to let lust, rather than guilt or reason, guide her when it comes to sex.

Mario then takes Emmanuelle to a boxing ring, where he talks two young men into fighting each other for the right to have sex with her.

Later, Emmanuelle is awakened by Mario, who tells her to change into a dress with a zipper down the back, allowing him to strip her instantly for her next sexual encounter.

Emmanuelle then sits at a mirror and applies makeup, hoping that, by following Mario's instructions, she will reach the higher levels of pleasure that he has promised.

[8] After reading the novel, Jaeckin felt daunted by the film's subject matter and agreed with Rousset-Rouard to make what he described as "something soft and beautiful with a nice story".

[8] Casting sessions were held throughout Europe to find the right actress to play the leading role.

[8] Kristel found it very difficult to film the scene involving Emmanuelle being raped by two men in an opium den in Bangkok.

[11] Jaeckin has denied directing the scene that involves a young woman in a Thai bar who smokes a cigarette out of her vagina.

[10] Sylvia Kristel accidentally arrived at the Emmanuelle auditions, where the director Just Jaeckin offered her the role.

[14] The film featured tracks that were nearly indistinguishable from the King Crimson song "Larks' Tongues in Aspic Part Two".

Robert Fripp in order to prove the similarities of the two song had to sit and record the entire film in a theatre, he would later get the credit for composing the track.

The film was initially held up for several months by French censorship authorities, but permission was given after Valéry Giscard d'Estaing had won the Presidential elections in May 1974.

[18] In the United Kingdom, Emmanuelle was the first adult film to play in regular British theaters after receiving extensive BBFC cuts to most of the sex scenes.

[15] Jay Cocks described its promotion in Time, stating "No exclusive linage in the sex sheets, no adhesive stickers for the walls of public toilets.

[11] Ebert stated that "in terms of its genre (softcore skin flick), it's very well done: lushly photographed on location in Thailand, filled with attractive and intriguing people, and scored with brittle, teasing music.

Now that hardcore porno has become passe, it's a relief to see a movie that drops the gynecology and returns to a certain amount of sexy sophistication.

"[24] Film historian Danny Shipka wrote that "In Asia, many women saw it as a liberating piece focusing on the power and strength of Emmanuelle and not her exploitation.

"[33] Sylvia Kristel stated that "Japanese feminists were rather delighted with the film because they thought Emmanuelle was dominant, just because of this one scene where she climbs on top of her husband.

"[32] Italian film producers wanted to capitalize on the international popularity of Emmanuelle by making a similar product that could be made cheaply.

[36] To work around copyright rules, these producers altered their spelling of Emmanuelle to create their series Black Emanuelle, starring Laura Gemser.

In Japan, the film popularized the phrase "emanieru suru," which directly translates to "to do Emmanuelle,"[37] meaning "to have a casual and extravagant love affair.