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Irma Vep 15 rating

Olivier Assayas' sexy and stylish ode to the madness of filmmaking, with Maggie Cheung as the Hong Kong movie star playing a Catwoman-style anti-heroine.

Drama 1996 99 mins

Director: Olivier Assayas

Overview

Esteemed director Olivier Assayas (Personal Shopper, The Clouds of Sils Maria) turns his lens inwards with this sexy and stylish ode to the madness of filmmaking. French filmmaker René Vidal (Day for Night’s Jean-Pierre Léaud) is commissioned by a TV company to direct a remake of Louis Feuillade’s classic silent-era serial, Les Vampires. Maggie Cheung (playing a version of herself) is cast in the central role and heads to Paris for filming – where she finds herself amid the chaos of artistic differences, petty rivalries and the immense egos which make up a film set.

Irma Vep is Assayas at his lightest and most playful - simultaneously a gently satirical dig at the state of French cinema and a love letter to the female star who would become his wife.