Category: Cinema > Films
Censorship incidents
| 1975-04-11 | Ban and prosecution of the film EMMANUELLE (Just Jaeckin, 1974)| Reason: | Morality | Obscenity |
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| Rating: | Adults Only |
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| Type of censorship: | Ban | Prosecution | Institutional censorship | Repressive censorship |
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| 1981 | Prosecution of the film EMMANUELLE (Just Jaeckin, 1974)| Reason: | Morality | Obscenity |
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| Rating: | Adults Only |
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| Type of censorship: | Ban | Prosecution | Institutional censorship | Repressive censorship |
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Description
EMMANUELLE is one of the most influential erotic films in the history of cinema, generating a vast array of film series, sequels and copycats. Based on the eponymous novel by Emmanuelle Arsan (1967), the film was released in France and in the USA in 1974 without any censorship –contrary to the substantial cuts enforced in other countries. The film is praised for its high production value and for its celebration of female sexual desire without constraints, although, in today’s standards, it contains some problematic elements, like the gratuitous depiction of rape. In Greece, EMMANUELLE was released in 1975, selling 300,000 tickets in one week. This generated an intense moral panic, and the reaction of religious and family associations. A confederation of students’ parents contacted the Prime Minister, several government officials, the heads of opposition political parties and the Archbishop, in order to get the film banned. The distributor of the film and theater owners were prosecuted, and a trial was held on the grounds of obscenity, as the movie was regarded ‘’a torpedo against Greek families’’. Apart from the members of the state censorship committees, who had granted the film a screening license, university professors and prominent artists were called to testify. Moreover, a special screening of the film was held, in order for the prosecutor, the lawyers and reporters to form an opinion. The film was subsequently banned, but the defendants were not convicted because the censorship committees had approved it. In 1981, the distributor attempted to re-release the film, but the same associations reacted and he was prosecuted again.
Christos Triantafyllou
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Sources – Bibliography
- I Avgi, 29/3/1978.
- Eleftherotypia, 26/1/1982.
- Ta Nea, 29/3/1978.
- Rizospastis, 1/4/1975.
- Kostas Katsapis, «Εμμανουέλα: Μια ‘άτακτηΓαλλιδούλα’ στη συγκυρία της Μεταπολίτευσης», in Penelope Petsini-Dimitris Christopoulos (eds.), Λεξικό λογοκρισίας στην Ελλάδα. Καχεκτική Δημοκρατία, Δικτατορία και Μεταπολίτευση, Athens, Εκδόσεις Καστανιώτη, 2018, 345-348.
- Kostas Katsapis, «‘Θα κλάψουν γυναίκες εξαιτίας της’: Η περίπτωση της ταινίας Εμμανουέλα στη συγκυρία της Μεταπολίτευσης», in Penelope Petsini-Dimitris Christopoulos (eds), Η λογοκρισία στην Ελλάδα, Athens, Ίδρυμα Ρόζα Λούξεμπουργκ, 2016, 43-51.
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