directed by Olivier Assayas
France 1996
Cinema is not magic.
It is a technique and a science.
A technique born of science and the service of a will.
The will of the workers to free themselves.
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I find it very difficult
to put into words the appeal of this film. Maggie Cheung is playing herself as a
successful Hong Kong action film star who has been picked by Rene Vidal
(Jean-Pierre Leaud), an elderly French director at the tail end of his failing
career. He has requested her to play the part of Irma Vep in his remake of Louis
Feuillade's 1915 silent 7.5 hour masterpiece,
Les Vampires. Dressed erotically in tight latex (not unlike Michelle
Pfeiffer in Batman Returns) she cat burgles while skulking around Paris
rooftops. This alone is worth watching. Not unlike Feuillade, director Assayas
has captured the mystique of Paris and bottled it onscreen. Irma Vep is an enjoyable fictional making-of film which exposes Cheung's
magnetic charisma (as if it were possible to restrain). Her allure overtakes the entire screen and as opposed to fighting it, the camera and script
seem to succumb to her grace and beauty. This movie is filled with French charm
with its sexual indifference, Parisian culture, film-making introspection and
her, Maggie Cheung. My personal highlight of the film is when Maggie, alone in
her hotel room, gets into character; she dons her latex costume and tip-toes
through the hotel corridors, spies a distressed and abandoned lover (played by Atom
Egoyan's wife Arsinée Khanjian!), naked in her
room and steals some of her jewelry. She then flees to the rooftop and in the
rain disposes of her prizes over the edge. Magnificent is all I can say. I do think my admiration
and enjoyment of Feuillade's film only exemplified my positive feelings toward
Irma Vep. Like conceptual art, this film is unapologetic of its focus and ideals -
it has no exclusivity, but either you are open to its charm ... or you are not.
"Eccentric" is an apt description... "Supercool" might also do.
Gary W. Tooze |
out of
Posters
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Theatrical Release: September 6th, 1996 - Toronto Film Festival
Reviews More Reviews DVD Reviews
DVD Review: Panorama Region 0 - NTSC
| DVD Box Cover |
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CLICK to order from:
Thinking of buying from YesAsia? CLICK HERE and use THIS UPDATED BEAVER PAGE to source their very best... |
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Although we have also reviewed
the Fox Lorber edition
HERE, we
strongly suspect that the 2Good edition from France is the best transfer of the film to DVD, but it has no English
subtitles, although some of the dialogue is in English.
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| Distribution | Panorama Region 0 - NTSC | |
| Runtime | 1:38:33 | |
| Video |
1.56:1.00
Letterboxed WideScreen Average Bitrate: 5.35 mb/s NTSC 720x480 29.97 f/s |
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| Bitrate: |
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| Audio | French and English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo) | |
| Subtitles | English and Traditional Chinese (non-removable) | |
| Features |
Release Information: Edition Details: DVD Release Date:
Oct 14th, 2003 |
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| Comments: |
I suppose it would be easier documenting what is right about this DVD. There is nothing right about it. Horrible, cloudy, pasty transfer with burned in dual subtitles and crappy audio. No menu, 1 chapter stop. We only posted this review to warn you to avoid this DVD at all costs. I don't have a 'zero' out of five graphic so I'll just tell you: zero out of five. Gary W. Tooze |
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Recommended Reading in French Cinema (CLICK COVERS or TITLES for more information)
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The Films in My Life |
French Cinema: A Student's Guide by Philip Powrie, Keith Reader |
Agnes Varda by Alison Smith | Godard on Godard : Critical Writings by Jean-Luc Godard | Notes on the Cinematographer by Robert Bresson |
Robert Bresson (Cinematheque Ontario Monographs, No.
2) by James Quandt |
The Art of Cinema by Jean Cocteau |
French New Wave
by Jean Douchet, Robert Bonnono, Cedric Anger, Robert Bononno |
Check out more in "The Library"
DVD Menus
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NO MENUS |
Subtitle Sample
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Screen Captures
Prevalent combing - everywhere...
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| DVD Box Cover |
|
CLICK to order from:
Thinking of buying from YesAsia? CLICK HERE and use THIS UPDATED BEAVER PAGE to source their very best... |
|
|
Although we have also reviewed
the Fox Lorber edition
HERE, we
strongly suspect that the 2Good edition from France is the best transfer of the film to DVD, but it has no English
subtitles, although some of the dialogue is in English.
|
|
Mail cheques, money orders, cash to: or CLICK PayPal logo to donate!
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Gary Tooze
Mississauga, Ontario, CANADA |
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Many Thanks...
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