In the expanded universe of Kelly’s take, both might be true. Among the many red herrings and confusing narrative anchors tossed about is Arthur C Clarke’s declaration that any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic. It turns out Steward was once a quite normal scientist working on similar programs as Arthur, but that after being struck by lightning on a launch pad he died on the operating table but was revived a changed man.

The first film sees Emmanuelle (Sylva Kristel, the Jenna Jameson of her day) introduced to the erotic ways of swinging by her liberated husband, artist Jean. The film espouses a national attitude particular to the French of pleasure for it’s own sake, and even without the nudity it’s a pleasant change from the constant Protestant ethic we get from American movies.

From Barbara Taylor Bradford miniseries to Debbie Does Dallas, popular filmed culture is awash with depictions of lovemaking. And despite the fact that it’s going on between millions of couples worldwide at any given moment, we never get tired of watching it in movies.