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Information

Year
1996
Runtime
99 min.
Director
Olivier Assayas
Genres
Drama, Comedy
Rating *
7.0
Votes *
3,935
Checks
1,795
Favs
141
Dislikes
18
Favs/checks
7.9% (1:13)
Favs/dislikes
8:1
* View IMDb information

Top comments

  1. Siskoid's avatar

    Siskoid

    Irma Vep is the name of the character in the silent film Les Vampires. Maggie Cheung plays herself, contracted to play Irma in a remake. Cue meta-text about film-making, in particular French cinema, but I can't decide if it's meant to be a manifestation of the director's agon, working in the shadow of the French New Wave, a criticism of those directors' later work (I see a lot of Godard in the director here, though he is played by Jean-Pierre Léaud, Truffault's alter ego in his films), or a tribute to that seminal era (with the behind the scenes stuff essentially inspired by Day for Night). It just plays as a massive inside joke, one I don't have the culture to get. Maggie is of course great in it, though her not speaking French means the director speaks in heavily accented English I couldn't really understand without subtitles, though maybe that's part of the joke. Osmosis between her and her character is almost a thing, such as when she spies on the director's wife, and maybe the film industry is populated by vampires, who knows. It's not that movie is ambiguous so much as it is unclear. I have an idea for the an extra 5 seconds after the ending that would have said something more conclusive, but alas. Interesting, but I can't tell if it doesn't give up its secrets easily enough, or if it doesn't really have any to begin with. 4 years 5 months ago
  2. Wonderful Rainbow's avatar

    Wonderful Rainbow

    Cinema loves itself 5 years 1 month ago
  3. unterwasser's avatar
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In 7 official lists

  1. This movie ranks #3 in Scott Tobias's The New Cult Canon
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    Scott Tobias's The New C…

    3
  2. This movie ranks #446 in The Guardian's 1000 Films to See Before You Die
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    The Guardian's 1000 Film…

    446
  3. This movie ranks #460 in Mark Cousins's The Story of Film: An Odyssey
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    Mark Cousins's The Story…

    460
  4. This movie ranks #469 in Time Out's 1000 Films to Change Your Life
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    Time Out's 1000 Films to…

    469
  5. This movie ranks #594 in TSPDT's 1,000 Greatest Films: 1001-2500
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    TSPDT's 1,000 Greatest F…

    594
  6. This movie ranks #928 in Jonathan Rosenbaum's Essential Cinema
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    Jonathan Rosenbaum's Ess…

    928
  7. This movie ranks #1306 in The Criterion Collection
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    The Criterion Collection

    1306
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