The cast of this French film shot internationally is growing. Find out who will be the other actress in the cast of this sulphurous film which will be an event in 2024.
This will undoubtedly be one of the most scrutinized feature films of 2024! The new reading of the ultra-cult film Emmanuelle is getting closer. Taken from the sulfurous novel by Emmanuelle Arsan, this project will deliver a new vision of this work.
Audrey Diwan is directing and writing the screenplay, with the collaboration of Rebecca Zlotowski. Filming began 10 weeks ago, as illustrated in one of the rare images revealed so far.
As announced, it is Noémie Merlant (Portrait of the Girl on Fire, The Innocent…) who will headline the film, succeeding the name of Léa Seydoux, which had initially been communicated, during the 2022 Cannes Film Festival.
Thanks to a new behind-the-scenes photo, relayed in an Instagram story by Naomi Watts, we discover that the actress will also be in the casting of the film. Its role has not yet been clarified.
This is not the first time that we can discover Naomi Watts in the credits of a French film, produced internationally. For the record, she starred in Perfect Mothers by Anne Fontaine, with Robin Wright, in 2013.
Noémie Merlant has a string of successes and great roles: we saw her in L’Innocent by Louis Garrel, in a lovely comic score (and a César to boot), and in 2023, in a key role with Cate Blanchett, in the American film Tár by Todd Field, but also in Les Ames Noirs by André Téchiné (video interview above), currently broadcast on Canal+ / myCANAL.
More recently, she was part of the trio of A Difficult Year, with Pio Marmaï and Jonathan Cohen.
Noémie Merlant talks to us about all these films in the podcast interview below:
“I feel that there is risk taking, but at the same time, I like to take risks. It’s almost what I prefer. (…) From this woman’s point of view, connecting to her desire, to her sexuality, to her fantasies… That interests me. There are risks to take, but very interesting and liberating“, Noémie Merlant told us about Emmanuelle in our interview last April.
Near DeadlineAudrey Diwan had given some details about the filming, which took place in Hong Kong. “Noémie Merlant is a pure artistic choice, an obvious choice like Anamaria Vartolomei was in my previous film (The Event, Editor’s note)“.
And added: “I love Léa Seydoux, I want to make a film with her one day. But for me, it wasn’t the character I imagined. From Portrait of the Girl on Fire to Tár, I never ceased to be seduced by the strength of Noémie Merlant’s acting.
She has the authority and seduction necessary for this role. Noémie redefines the French woman. His attitude, his smile, this hint of insolence… I am also sensitive to the idea of finding an intellectual partner by making this choice, someone with whom I will compose this character.
This film will require a huge investment and mutual trust. I know I found the right person“, concludes Audrey Diwan.
“Emmanuelle, the first sex film to become cult!”
Prohibited for those under 16 at the time of its release, the original 1974 film followed Emmanuelle, a young woman who lives very liberatedly with her husband Jean. During the trip that takes her to Bangkok to join her husband, Emmanuelle meets two men on the plane and indulges in some fleeting pleasures.
During her stay, she meets two young girls, Marie-Ange and Bee, with whom she has an affair. Jean, for his part, decides to push Emmanuelle into the arms of a perverted sixty-year-old…
Emmanuel version 1974 had become a real phenomenon in theaters at the time, attracting more than 8.8 million spectators. The release date of this new Emmanuelle Audrey Diwan version is not yet known.