#1074: ASSAYAS, Olivier: Irma Vep (1996)

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ASSAYAS, Olivier (France)
Irma Vep (1996)
Spine #1074
Blu-ray


The live-wire international breakthrough of Olivier Assayas stars a magnetic Maggie Cheung as a version of herself: a Hong Kong action-movie star who arrives in Paris to play the latex-clad lead in a remake of Louis Feuillade's classic silent crime serial Les vampires. What she finds is a behind-the-scenes tangle of barely controlled chaos as egos clash, romantic attractions simmer, and an obsessive director (a cannily cast Jean-Pierre Léaud) drives himself to the brink to realize his vision. Blending blasts of silent cinema, martial-arts flicks, and the music of Sonic Youth and Luna into a hallucinatory swirl of postmodern cool, Assayas composes a witty critique of the nineties French film industry and the eternal tension between art and commercial entertainment.

99 minutes
Black and White/Color
5.1 Surround
1:66:1 aspect ratio
Criterion Release 2021
Director/Writer


Oliver Assayas was 41 when he wrote and directed Irma Vep.

Other Assayas films in the Collection:

#944: Cold Water (1994)
#513: Summer Hours (2008)
#582: Carlos (2010)
#822: Clouds Of Sils Maria (2014)
#899: Personal Shopper (2016)

The Film

A

Film Rating (0-60):

60

The Extras

The Booklet

Twelve-page wraparound featuring an essay by critic Aliza Ma.

Commentary

None.

Interview 1

With Assayas.

On the Set of “Irma Vep”

A behind-the-scenes featurette.

Interview 2

From 2003 with Assayas and critic Charles Tesson.

Interview 3

From 2003 with actors Cheung and Richard.

Musidora, the Tenth Muse (2013)

A documentary on the actor who originated the role of Irma Vep.

Les vampires: Hypnotic Eyes (1916)

The sixth episode in Louis Feuillade’s silent-film serial.

Cinema in the Present Tense

A June 2020 address on the state of cinema by Assayas.

A short film by Assayas

Man Yuk: A Portrait of Maggie Cheung, from 1997.

Black-and-white rushes for the film

Extras Rating (0-40):

39

60 + 39 =

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