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Irma Vep

On Transmission 2020
© Vortex Sutra
When nouvelle vague director René Vidal decides to shoot a remake of Louis Feuillade’s silent serial film Les Vampires, his career is already in decline. For the leading role of Irma Vep, he casts Maggie Cheung, a well-known action star from Hong Kong who doesn’t speak a word of French. On the completely chaotic set, Maggie is squeezed into a tight latex suit modelled on Michelle Pfeiffer’s in Catwoman and finds herself having to contend with intrigues, clashing egos and the advances of costume designer Zoé during the course of the shoot. The director also encounters mounting difficulties – not only in his marriage but also in his artistic self-image. The project falls into increasing jeopardy.
Contrasting mainstream cinema and auteur film, this bizarre satire mixes seemingly irreconcilable genres, styles and artistic approaches, and makes a humorous assessment of contemporary French film, torn as it is between the past and an unsatisfactory present.
by Olivier Assayas
with Maggie Cheung, Jean-Pierre Léaud, Nathalie Richard, Bulle Ogier France 1996 French, English 96’ Colour & Black/White Rating R12

With

  • Maggie Cheung (Maggie Cheung)
  • Jean-Pierre Léaud (René Vidal)
  • Nathalie Richard (Zoé)
  • Bulle Ogier (Mireille)

Crew

Written and Directed by Olivier Assayas
Cinematography Eric Gautier
Editing Luc Barnier
Sound Philippe Richard
Production Design François-Renaud Labarthe
Costumes Françoise Clavel
Producer Georges Benayoun

World Sales

mk2 Films

https://mk2films.com/ https://mk2films.com/

Produced by

Dacia Films

Photos

Olivier Assayas

© Carole Bethuel

Born in Paris, France in 1955. After studying art and literature, he made short films, wrote screenplays (notably for André Téchiné) and contributed articles to the film magazine “Cahiers du Cinéma”. His 20-plus films have won him international acclaim since his debut Disorder was awarded a prize at the 1986 Mostra di Venezia. He has received numerous further accolades including Best Director at Cannes for Personal Shopper.

Filmography (selection)

1986 Désordre (Disorder) 1994 L’eau froide (Cold Water) 1996 Irma Vep 1999 Fin août, début septembre (Late August, Early September) 2000 Les destinées sentimentales (Sentimental Destinies) 2002 Demonlover 2004 Clean 2008 L’heure d’été (Summer Hours) 2010 Carlos 2012 Après mai (Something in the Air) 2014 Sils Maria (Clouds of Sils Maria) 2016 Personal Shopper 2018 Doubles vies (Non-Fiction) 2019 Cuban Network (Wasp Network) 2022 Irma Vep; series, 8 episodes 2024 Hors du temps

Bio- & filmography as of Berlinale 2024