IRMA VEP
A film review by James Berardinelli
Copyright 1997 James Berardinelli
RATING (0 TO 10): 8.0 Alternative Scale: ***1/2 out of ****
France, 1996
U.S. Release Date: beginning 5/97 (limited)
Running Length: 1:37
MPAA Classification: No MPAA Rating (Sexual situations, profanity,
nudity)
Theatrical Aspect Ratio: 1.66:1
Cast: Maggie Cheung, Jean-Pierre Leaud, Nathalie Richard, Antoine Basler, Nathalie Boutefeu, Alex Descas, Dominique Faysse, Bulle Ogier Director: Olivier Assayas Producer: Georges Benayoun Screenplay: Olivier Assayas Cinematography: Eric Gautier Music: Luna and Sonic Youth U.S. Distributor: Zeitgeist Films In French and English with subtitles
IRMA VEP, Olivier Assayas' incisive and entertaining 1996 feature, takes an offbeat look at the current state of French cinema. Cut from the same cloth as such recent American features as MY LIFE'S IN TURNAROUND and LIVING IN OBLIVION, Assayas turns the camera on the behind-the-scenes process, and the results are both comic and revealing (although it should be noted that this film is not as openly jokey as the other two movies). In a picture that has a lot to say about the film making process and the people who engage in it, Assayas has not restricted his commentary to the French movie industry -- he has words for the American and Hong Kong brands, as well.
IRMA VEP isn't lacking when it comes to a drawing card. The sight of actress Maggie Cheung (SUPERCOP) garbed in a skintight, black latex outfit should be enough to create lines at the box office (it won't, but that's beside the point). Cheung is playing herself here -- a successful Hong Kong actress who has been pegged by an aging French director, Rene Vidal (Jean-Pierre Leaud), to play the part of Irma Vep in his remake of Louis Feuillade's 1915 silent serial, LES VAMPIRES. Vidal's vision is to have Cheung dressed like Michelle Pfeiffer in BATMAN RETURNS, slinking around the Paris underworld. And, out of some misplaced artistic sentiment, he has decided to honor the original by filming the new version as a silent, black-and-white offering that's more strange than it is compelling.
Re-arrange the letters in the name "Irma Vep" and you get "vampire." However, LES VAMPIRES, like Vidal's remake, has nothing to do with the creatures of the night that Bram Stoker wrote about in his classic DRACULA. The vampires here are a group of expert thieves, who spend their nights creeping through the streets of Paris, stealing what they can, where they can.
When it comes to Vidal's version, there are problems. The first is that Maggie doesn't understand French, and no one in the crew knows Chinese, so all communication takes place English. Vidal, who is trying a comeback after his once-promising career has hit rock bottom, spends a great deal of time muttering unintelligibly about his artistic viewpoint. Once, in a fit of pique, he declares of the fetishist film, "It's not a game -- it's very important." The costume designer, Zoe (Nathalie Richard), has developed a crush on Maggie, and is trying to surreptitiously find a way to get her into bed. Meanwhile, in an attempt to get into character, Maggie dons the catsuit in real life and tries her hand at an actual burglary.
IRMA VEP works extraordinarily well on two levels. It explores the movie-making process, and, in doing so, exposes the fakery and hypocrisy that often emerges in the self-serving, so-called "intellectual cinema." One character states that many French movies have become boring because they're intended only for the elite, and that the tendency of French directors to embrace such limited projects is contributing to the death of the movie industry. It's an interesting theory, and one that stands in contrast to the belief that big-budget, mindless action films are responsible for the decline in the quality of American movies (another subject that does not go unnoticed by IRMA VEP). Assayas has fun with this idea, and gets quite a bit of mileage playing off the commonly-held perception that French cinema is dull and talky. There's also a more serious point to this aspect of the movie, as it will prod viewers into considering what they look for and appreciate in a film, and whether the true strength of the medium lies in its variety and versatility.
What really makes this project work, however, is its ability to create a believable group of characters. Assayas uses the tricks of cinema verite -- handheld shots and long takes -- to good effect, as we immediately become involved in the lives of these people. Maggie is our often-bewildered but always good-humored guide through this strange land, and we become attached to her almost from the beginning. The other characters grow on us as Assayas lets us peek into their lives, hearing their private conversations and learning their secret desires.
The crowning sequence of the film has Maggie, in costume, slinking through the corridors of her hotel, intent upon a theft (although it's difficult for her to be stealthy when her costume makes a squishing sound every time she moves). She sneaks into a room, watches from the shadows as a naked woman (Atom Egoyan's wife and frequent leading lady, Arsinee Khanjian) argues over the phone with her boyfriend, then takes a necklace. Moments later, she's on the roof, in the pouring rain, bathed in a soft, yellow light. It's a magical moment.
Are French films stuffy? At times, yes, and that's one of many reasons why even the most "accessible" French movies are relegated to art cinemas in this country. IRMA VEP gleefully defies such facile labeling, however. This is a sly, sexy endeavor that presents its audacious viewpoint with style and intelligence. IRMA VEP features some wonderful performances (notably those of Cheung, Leaud, and Richard), that, in concert with its sure direction and smart script, make for a wholly satisfying motion picture.
- James Berardinelli e-mail: berardin@bc.cybernex.net ReelViews web site: http://www.cybernex.net/~berardin
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