Is it possible in the 21st Century to understand how Emmanuelle effected Sylvia Kristel’s career? Her film become a major hit around the globe and any film also she did around that time became a hot booking property in those same theaters. This was 1974 so there was no home video market. If you wanted to see Kristel, you had to buy a ticket at the local theater that was willing to show sensual European films. The distributors didn’t care how big of a role Kristel had in the films; they just needed her name on the marquee to keep newly minted fans coming back to see more of the Dutch actress. This is not something that happens in theaters anymore. Do people flock to the cineplex to see the other films by a hot young actor anymore? They just wait until they’re cast as a superhero. Sylvia Kristel found stardom at a time when it really mattered at the box office. Julia was released with Sylvia Kristel’s character’s name as the title, but it’s not her character’s story.
Patrick (Slaughterhouse-Five‘s Ekkehardt Belle) splits from his boarding school to spend his summer vacation with his dad (The Unbearable Lightness of Being‘s Jean-Claude Bouillon). On the train trip, he ends up in a compartment with an alluring blonde Yvonne (Mephisto‘s Teri Tordai). They get flirty as she lays back on her chair. Before he can make his move, Yvonne visits the bathroom with another guy for a quickie. When he gets off on the train, his dad points out that Patrick is on the train with his new girlfriend that turns out to be Yvonne. This isn’t the most awkward part of his stay at a lakeside estate in Austria. The house is owned by grandmother. They’re not the only people on the picturesque property. His Uncle Alex (Aquirre: Wrath of God‘s Peter Berling) who is in the middle of composing a musical piece while nearly nude and watching his wife hook up with the maid. There’s a bit of play as the maid acts reluctant until she’s coated in whipped cream. Complicating things even more is next door neighbor Julia (Sylvia Kristel) is extremely interested in hooking up with Patrick. But seeing how neither of them has any experience, he’s not sure about going all the way. He is protective of her when his video arcade pal almost seduces Julia on a boat. This leads to what should be a major turning point and a police investigation. Instead, Patrick finds himself on a car ride to Verona with his dad, the mistress and Julia which gets frisky as they make a late-night visit to places that were mentioned in Romeo and Juliet.
While this might be seen as some sort of mindless romp, Patrick learns an extremely important lesson about consent. In a rather shocking scene, Patrick duplicates the rough play with one of the characters that he’d seen earlier in the film. The woman isn’t not having any of it and puts up a struggle to let him know this is not welcomed. He learns that how she plays with someone else isn’t how she likes it with everyone else. But instead of having him charged by the police and turning the movie into a Law & Order SVU episode, Patrick learns never to do this again. This lesson doesn’t get too preachy as if we’re getting Emmanuelle makes an After School Special. But it shows these films weren’t complete carnal free-for-alls.
Recently on his Video Archives podcast, Quentin Tarantino talked about how Julia was a popular rental at the shop. That makes sense since during the ’80s, it was popular to rent erotic films from Europe to feel a bit more sophisticated than the people who went behind the beaded curtains. These movies had a bit of class with their artsy angles and use of locations that weren’t the same back alleys in the Valley. When renting Julia, a viewers could always use the excuse of needing to see Verona to help their Shakespeare term paper. It’s like buying Playboy for the articles.
The movie was made while Emmanuelle was in post-production so when it was time to release Julia, their supporting character was the biggest name in the cast. Thus Sylvia Kristel got a promotion in the publicity. While they didn’t re-edit the film to make it all about Julia, Kristel is in enough of the film in various forms of undress to please the audience. Even when Kristel’s not on the screen, there’s enough interesting action from the other characters to not make you feel cheated. Julia is the perfect Euro-summer movie that sizzle enough that you’ll need a dip in the pool to cool down.
The Video is 1.66:1 anamorphic so there’s a touch of black on either side of your screen. The transfer is a 2K HD taken from the original negative. This brings out the details of Pauli’s vacation and the women he meets. The Audio is German LPCM 2.0 Stereo, German DTS-HD MA 2.0 Stereo and English LPCM 2.0 Stereo. This lets you see it as an imported film or a dubbed film for the not-so-Artsy Theater in the mid-70s. The movie is subtitled in English.
Audio Commentary is by Jeremy Richey who recently published Sylvia Kristel: From Emmanuelle to Chabrol. He gets into the history of the film and how Kristel’s career was going at the time.
Poster & Lobby Card Collection (3:10) is a montage of how the film was sold around the world. Everyone wanted you to think it was all about Sylvia Kristel. Best is the territories that renamed the movie “Die Nichte der O” to cash in on The Story of O being released. One even used her big image from Playing With Fire.
Trailers include Julia (2:26), Mysteries (2:34) and Pastorale 1943 (2:01). All the films are out from Cult Epics.
Cult Epics presents Julia. Directed by Sigi Rothemund. Screenplay by Wolfgang Bauer. Starring Jean-Claude Bouillon, Sylvia Kristel, Teri Tordai, Ekkehardt Belle, Gisela Hahn, Peter Berling, Rose Renée Roth & Dominique Delpierre. Running Time: 88 minutes. Rating: Unrated. Release Date: February 7, 2023.
