Sylvia Kristel - biography

“As a painter you’re responsible yourself, 100 percent.  In film, you have the editor, the director, the other actors.  It has the advantage of not being solitary.”

“I learned so much from other actors and they definitely didn’t treat me like some sex bomb or bimbo.  I felt fully accepted in the regular movie world.  I didn’t feel categorised.”

“I still have agents in France, Los Angeles and Amsterdam who call and suggest parts.  I’d love to keep on doing both painting and acting until the end of my days.”

“Emmanuelle is...  Well, she’s nothing really.”

“I made a video test [for Emmanuelle] and I refused it.  I thought it was for shampoo and I didn’t want to do any more commercials.”

“The film was made in 1973.  It was a golden time for people to experiment without risking, for example, AIDS.  Today one has to be so much more careful and I don’t think a character like that could exist now.”

“When a new generation watches the films, people might mention that it has improved their lovemaking.  I guess it’s because it isn’t threatening.  It was very sweet and delicate.”

“Of course it’s difficult to top a box office success like Emmanuelle, so it will always be my most important work.  But that’s nothing to be ashamed of.”

“Young men seem so nervous of me.”

“Back then I didn’t think a woman like that, or a relationship like that, could exist with complete freedom and no jealousy or possessiveness.  I thought it sounded too good to be true and I was certainly convinced it wasn’t the life for me!”

“Didn’t they warn you?  I love to invent - avoiding the truth.  I need to dramatise.  It’s also a form of protection.”

“I have to be careful not to be too proud in life, because there is always room for improvement.”

“I’m very glad to have something to be passionate about.  I can’t imagine a life without passion.”

“The only thing I was trying to portray was serenity.  Also, innocence, vulnerability and elegance.”

Sylvia Kristel has appeared in the following films:
Because of the Cats (1973)
Frank en Eva (1973)
Naked Over the Fence (1973)
Emmanuelle (1974)
Un linceul n’a pas de poches (1974)
Le Jeu avec le feu (1975)
Emmanuelle: L’antivierge (1975)
René la canne (1976)
Une femme fidèle (1976)
La Marge (1976)
Alice ou la dernière fugue (1977)
Goodbye Emmanuelle (1977)
Mysteries (1978)
Pastorale 1943 (1978)
Letti selvaggi (1979)
The Concorde ... Airport ’79 (1979)
The Fifth Musketeer (1979)
The Nude Bomb (1980)
Un amore in prima classe (1980)
Lady Chatterley’s Lover (1981)
Private Lessons (1981)
Private School (1983)
Emmanuelle IV (1984)
Mata Hari (1985)
Red Heat (1985)
The Big Bet (1985)
Dracula’s Widow (1988)
The Arrogant (1988)
Hot Blood (1990)
In the Shadow of the Sandcastle (1990)
Silence of the Body (1992)
Beauty School (1993)
Emmanuelle au 7ème ciel (1993)
Gaston’s War (1997)
An Amsterdam Tale (1999)
Film 1 (1999)
Harry Rents a Room (1999)
Lijmen/Het been (2000)
De vriendschap (2001)
Vergeef me (2001)
Bank (2002)
Chacun son cinéma (2007)
Two Sunny Days (2010)