Irma Vep

If you have not seen the original Assayas movie from 1996, try watching it first. You will understand more about the idea behind this series. In short, it's just more of the same 1996 movie, but with enough details shuffled around to make it interesting to watch even if you have seen it before.

This is a remake of a movie that was telling about shooting remake of an old movie from the beginning of the 20th century, that was actually a 7h long series!

It's not for everyone, but you don't need to be neither patient nor intellectual to appreciate it. If you love cinema and love French cinema, you will appreciate this modern take on how chaotic tournage is.

Assayas remakes his 1996 cult classic into a long form cheeky essay on the machinations of the film world. Here he is able to delve deeper into the characters, most notably the ticking time bomb mind of the box-office American disillusioned star, Mira (Alicia Vikander having fun with her Tomb Raider popularity status). Mira travels to France to take on the role of Irma Vep in the modern remake of Les vampires. What seems to be an easy role, and a good excuse to be in France, ends up being more than what Mira has bargained for. There is enough mystic on the character only after episode 1, giving the viewer a reason to come back for further Mira encounters of the strange kind.

There is also the director, René Vidal, (Vincent Macaigne having a neurotic time of his life). The director had only a minor part in the film version, but in this series it seems that there will be plenty of time to slowly roast the hapless director with a breakdown of artistic proportions that only Assayas can pull off (and enjoy at the same time).

Yes, there are cliche characters, but as someone who works in the film industry, they do exist. With Assayas at the helm, it is going to be one super-duper ride into the disintegrating minds of the filmmakers as reality clashes with the surreal film world. So let's all sit back, and watch the madness unfold...

I've seen both the original 1916 Les Vampires and the 1996 Irma Vep, so I "get" what the director is trying to do with this series. I'm two episodes in and it seems this is written exclusively for critics, cinephiles, and fans of French film history. 7/10 is generous, but my memory of the original 1916 series keeps me interested.

The original series is "wacky" and very hard to describe. It certainly had energy. Cinema was still in its infancy, so they could just make it up as they went along and dream up ridiculous situations. You'll notice the actors in the HBO series keep lamenting that no one would say or do these things in 2022.

Musidora wasn't classically beautiful but had a strange, magnetic sex appeal. Maggie Cheung in the 1996 version was brilliant, odd casting and incredibly sexy. Her befuddlement added to the chaos. Alicia Vikander is not quite inspired casting. She's done a good job on her American accent, but her character is bland, listless, and gives off little sexual energy. Musidora was voluptuous; Vikander is a twig. Perhaps more inspired casting could have better captured the essence of Irma Vep.

I don't think the world was waiting for another version of Irma Vep. I'll watch to the end, but I can't recommend this to the casual viewer.

UPDATE: I have now finished the series and downgraded my score to 6/10. In 8 hours of tedium there were only 2 interesting characters; Rene, played tenderly by Vincent Macaigne, and Gottfried, channeling Keith Richards, played with reckless abandon by Lars Eidinger. Both deserve future Emmy nominations. Oddly, Irma Vep/Mira is the most poorly written character in the series. Mira really has nothing interesting to say or do, and Vikander infuses her with zero charisma. Fala Chen, in a bit part, lights up the screen as Lily Flower. Perhaps she should have played Mira/Irma Vep?

This show is really well written and feels authentic. A peek into the life of a show, the actors, the director, the crew. It also feels quite personal from the director Olivier Assayas.

Give it a try and don't get influenced by the bad reviews who only watched the first episode..

This Tv show is about people making a TV show, so if you dislike anything Hollywood (spoiled movie stars, eccentric filmmakers, etc), annoying french artists and classic cinema/theatre, then look somewhere else. But if love this kind of thing, you're in for a treat. The show's writing and acting feels natural and fluid, and Alicia Vikander has an undeniable screen presence. . We've only seen the first two episodes, so don't expect me to give you my take on the first 30 minutes of a movie-You gotta watch the whole thing before you can talk crap about the story or characters.