Just Jaeckin, the French filmmaker and photographer who made the hit erotic film Emmanuelle, died on Tuesday, September 6, 2022 at the age of 82, a family spokeswoman told AFP. “Just Jaeckin, director by Emmanuelle with Sylvia Kristel died on September 6 in Brittany following a long illness at the age of 82 (…) He died surrounded by his wife Anne, sculptor, and his daughter Julia, photographer“said his agent in a press release.
The film with the late Sylvia Kristel – who died in 2012 – was an international success, from Japan to the United States, tells the sexual adventures of a young woman in Asia. This success, however, hasdisrupted and overshadowed the multifaceted talent“from the photographer, commercial director and sculptor he was before becoming the director by Emmanuelle, according to those around him. Born in 1940 in Vichy, Just Jaeckin was also the owner, with his wife, of an art gallery in Paris where they exhibited paintings and sculptures, including their own.
Emmanuelle, the biggest hit of 1974 in France with nearly 9 million admissions, was shown on the Champs-Elysées in Paris for thirteen years. A societal phenomenon, the film has been seen in cinemas by several tens of millions of spectators all over the world, many more if we take other media into account. Available today for rent on the Amazon platform, Emmanuelle had been available for a time in 2020 on Netflix. Not recommended for those under 16, the film was presented as a “romantic” opus.
Emmanuelle had been adapted from an erotic bestseller of the same name, written by Emmanuelle Arsan in 1959. The producer, Yves Rousset-Rouard, wishing to entrust the project to a young director, contacted the photographer Just Jaeckin, delighted to shoot a feature film. Just Jaeckin will then direct history of O and, again with Sylvia Kristel, Lady Chatterley’s Lover.