Olivier Assayas-Irma Vep (1996)

Hong Kong action superstar Maggie Cheung plays herself in Olivier Assayas' brilliant satire of the movie industry. A film about a fictional remake of a classic silent film with a real-life Hong Kong actress playing herself, Olivier Assayas’s Irma Vep can appear to be a very intimidating film in terms of its layers of complexity, references and post-modern treatment. But because of those various layers and a very relaxed, unpretentious approach, it correspondingly has many levels of accessibility, not least of which for many viewers, it has to be said, is the sight of Maggie Cheung running around for most of the film in a tight-fitting bondage outfit. DVD Times




Rene Vidal, a director in decline, decides to remake Louis Feuillade's silent serial "Les Vampires." Believing no French actress can match Musidora as Irma Vep (an anagram for vampire), he casts Hong Kong action heroine Maggie Cheung, though she speaks no French. On the chaotic set, she's aided by Zoe, the wardrobe mistress with a crush on her; she defends Vidal to a Parisian journalist who trashes all French film and praises John Woo and Schwarzenegger; she befriends Vidal when he goes over the edge; and, in costume, she breaks into a hotel suite to steal jewels as her victim talks on the phone. We also watch the making, the rushes, and the remains of Vidal's unfinished film. (http://imdb.com/title/tt0116650/plotsummary)




In the tradition of films about filmmaking, Irma Vep takes its own special place among such films as Fellini's 8½. A has-been director decides to remake the silent French serial film Les Vampires starring a Hong Kong action film superstar….




The production is falling behind schedule and its star, Maggie Cheung (who plays herself), finds herself an outsider with the film's crew save for a woman costumer (Nathalie Richard) who has a crush on her. Rene the director (Jean-Pierre Leaud) cast Maggie after viewing one of her many martial-arts fantasy films….




Although he finds her perfect for the part of the jewel thief in Les Vampires, the rest of the crew cannot see the reasons for casting Maggie beyond her beauty and how she looks in her tight-fitting latex costume. Rene's vision is soon lost on everyone and he suffers a mental breakdown….




The film is reassigned to Jose (Lou Castel), a seemingly more commanding director (although he takes the job because his welfare is about to run out), whose first decision is to fire Maggie. Irma Vep is presented as a comedy, but at its heart lies an examination of the art and craft of filmmaking. In a clever turn, Maggie creeps around her hotel getting into character, in essence remaking Irma Vep for real-life director Olivier Assayas. Assayas wrote the film in 10 days and shot the film in a month after meeting Maggie Cheung at a film festival–a fascinating case of life imitating art… or is it the other way around? (–Shannon Gee - Editorial Reviews - Amazon.com)