Irma Vep - ICA Cinema
Based around the shooting of a film in the suburbs of Paris, Irma Vep is a deeply satirical look at modern French cinema. It is essentially the simple story line of the obsessive director attempting the impossible - to recreate the magic of Feuillade’s early silent classic ‘Les Vampires’, only using a very un-French Maggie Cheung (who plays herself), much to the concern of the other members of the cast.
The director’s mental health wanes as his task is made more complicated by a mostly unhelpful crew and his own mad fascination with Maggie. Added to this are Maggie’s own problems concerning reality - her Latex bodysuit (used on set) becomes an attraction too great for her to resist and she finds herself breaking into another guest’s bedroom within the hotel, living out her role as Feuillade’s own sexy super-villainess Irma Vep. Subtle questions involving her sexuality and a female member of the crew further twist the plot and finally the director himself, who breaks down and cannot complete the filming.
A new director is found and the film completed after having replaced Cheung with a French actress. The finale is its premičre. The result is both dissatisfying and confused - the swapping of directors having a disastrous affect on the plot and style, its new-found ‘French-ness’ compromising its original intentions.
Fluidly directed from the start, the film gradually disappoints as the somewhat flimsy plot begins to damage marvellous performances from Cheung and Nathalie Richard, a make-up artist. Improvised in parts and filmed quickly due to a tightly constrained budget, Irma Vep is an interesting presentation of the highly popular resurgence of true French cinema, but neck-bitingly exciting it is not.
Jimmy G
