Emmanuelle

The glossy French softcore film that became a global phenomenon, following a diplomat's young wife through a series of erotic awakenings in Thailand. Shot like a perfume advertisement and scored with a famous easy-listening theme, it made sex cinema upmarket and acceptable, playing in mainstream theatres for years.

It is more tasteful and more boring than the exploitation softcore around it, which is exactly why it made a fortune and spawned an endless official and unofficial series. Sylvia Kristel became a star. Historically enormous, and the reason the whole euro-sexploitation boom took the shape it did.