Néa (1976)

Director:

Nelly Kaplan

Writers:

Emmanuelle Arsan (book)
Jean Chapot (writer)

Release Date:

18 August 1978 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

In Genève, bookseller and publisher Axel Thorpe catches willful, rich 16-year old Sibylle Ashby shoplifting...

Plot Keywords:

Writing | Challenge | Shoplifting | Adultery | Female Masturbation

Cast

Sami Frey	...	Axel Thorpe
Ann Zacharias	...	Sibylle Ashby
Françoise Brion	...	Judith Ashby
Micheline Presle	...	Helen Ashby
Heinz Bennent	...	Philip Ashby
Ingrid Caven	...	Anne
Robert Freitag	...	Benito
Chantal Bronner	...	Florence
Martin Provost	...	Raphaël
Roland Briet	...	Le bijoutier
Francine Custer	...	Une élève
Nicole Duhamel	...	Une élève
Claude Makovski	...	Le critique litteraire TV
Françoise Maye	...	Une élève
Rose-Marie Nicolas	...	La prof de mathématiques

Also Known As:

A Young Emmanuelle (UK)
Nea - Ein Mädchen entdeckt die Liebe (West Germany)
Nea: A New Woman

Runtime:

USA:103 min

Country:

France | West Germany

Language:

French

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Singapore:R(A) | Finland:K-18 | Australia:R

Filming Locations:

Geneva, Canton de Genève, Switzerland

Company:

Central Cinema Company Film (CCC)

Superior riff on "Emmanuelle"

This another 1970's "Emmanuelle" knock-off, but it's a little more "official" than most since it's based on a novel by the original Emmanuelle Arsan. A teenage girl (Anna Zacharias) is caught pilfering erotic books from a bookstore. She convinces the handsome young bookstore owner (Sami Fray) to let her write an erotic book for him which he can publish anonymously. The problem is she's a virgin, so she needs to do the appropriate "research" in order to write the novel. She spies on her mother with her lesbian lover and the bookstore owner with his female co-worker. She convinces the lovestruck servant boy to strip for her. Finally though, she decides too get some actual firsthand experience by going to bed with her new publisher. Afterwards though he betrays her, so she takes revenge. . .

This film was directed by a woman (Nelly Kaplan), and while it's not really any less erotic, it is (for better or worse) considerably less sleazy than some of the "Emmanuelle" knock-offs (especially the Italian ones). It has solid production values and surprisingly good acting. Ann Zacharias was actually in her early twenties at the time, but is pretty convincing playing a younger character. She does sexy pretty well of course, but her character is also pretty funny--putting on a thick pair of glasses to studiously observe the sex scenes, or clinically inspecting her horny servant boy's manhood with a pair of forceps. (For whatever, reason Zacharias kind of struck me as a French-Scandinavian version British actress Pamela Franklin in films like "The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie"). She is actually a much better actress than either Sylvia "Emmanuelle" Kristel or Annie "Laure" Belle, the two much more famous actresses to portray Arsan's erotic heroines. It's kind of a shame she never did much beyond this.

I've seen just about all the 1970's riffs on "Emmanuelle", and this is definitely one of the better ones. I'd recommend it.