Last year's coolest, most seductive movie. There's little plot to speak of--the shooting of a remake of the silent serial Les Vampires, starring Hong Kong superstar Maggie Cheung, provides a skeletal framework for Assayas' scattershot riffing--but that's one of the film's many pleasures: it's virtually impossible to guess what might happen next. Cheung, ostensibly playing herself, is superb, the eye of the frenetic hurricane of activity and anxiety that characterizes the fictional project, both on the set and off. As an amalgam of every auteur he worked with in the '60s and '70s, Truffaut icon Jean-Pierre Leaud, likewise, is tormented perfection. Both are upstaged, incredibly, by relative newcomer Nathalie Richard, as the lovelorn costume designer; her giddy, uncertain, and somewhat involuntary seduction of Cheung at a party is the picture's comic highlight. And all three are beautifully served by Assayas' remarkably expressive, alarmingly mobile camerawork; shot in Super-16, Irma Vep looks as good, and is as visually distinctive, as films with budgets ten times as sizable. For all its technical accomplishment, however, what's most distinctive is the film's tone, which is one of unabashed playfulness. Highly recommended. Editor's Choice. (M. D'Angelo)
[DVD Review—Nov. 25, 2008—Zeitgeist, 96 min., in English & French w/English subtitles, not rated, $29.99—Making its second appearance on DVD, 1997's Irma Vep sports a nice transfer. DVD extras include audio commentary with director Olivier Assayas and critic Jean-Michel Frodon, a half-hour “On the Set” behind-the-scenes featurette, an audio essay by Assayas and Frodon, the five-minute short “Man Yuk: A Portrait of Maggie Cheung” on the costar, four minutes of black-and-white rushes, a 20-page booklet, and trailers. Bottom line: a fine extras package for a boldly cinematic film.]
[Blu-ray/DVD Review—April 26, 2021—Criterion, 99 min., in French w/English subtitles, not rated, DVD: 2 discs, $29.95, Blu-ray: 2 discs, $39.95—Making its latest appearance on DVD and debut on Blu-ray, 2005’s Irma Vep is presented with a fine 2K digital restoration. Extras include a new interview with director Olivier Assayas, archival interviews with critic Charles Tesson (and Assayas), Maggie Cheung, and Nathalie Richard, a behind-the-scenes featurette, the 2013 documentary Musidora, the Tenth Muse on the actor who originated the role of Irma Vep, 1916’s "Les vampires: Hypnotic Eyes” (the sixth episode in Louis Feuillade’s silent-film serial), Man Yuk: A Portrait of Maggie Cheung (a 1997 short film by Assayas), and a leaflet with an essay by critic Aliza Ma. Bottom line: Assayas’s lovely homage to the titular silent film serial sparkles on Blu-ray.]