Irma Vep

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Irma Vep ★★ 1996

Satiric tweaking of French filmmaking begins with hasbeen director Rene Vidal (Leaud) hiring Hong Kong star Maggie Cheung to take the lead role of Irma Vep in a remake of the 1915 silent French classic “Les Vampires.” But from the moment the actress arrives in Paris, it's one disaster after another. Cheung has trouble with the language barrier, Vidal is having a breakdown, lesbian costumer Zoe (Richard) is instantly smitten by Cheung and has her interest humiliatingly conveyed to everyone on the production. Then there's Jose Murano (Castel), a snobbish auteur who replaces Vidal and believes the Chinese actress can't play a French thief, not knowing that Cheung has become ob sessed with her role and is practicing stealing from other hotel guests. English and French with subtitles. 96m/C VHS, DVD . FR Maggie Cheung, Jean-Pierre Leaud, Nathalie Richard, Bulle Ogier, Lou Castel, Antoine Basler, Nathalie Boutefeu, Arsinee Khanjian, Alex Descas; D: Olivier Assayas; W: Olivier Assayas; C: Eric Gautier.