When Louis Feuillade’s “Les Vampires” premiered in 1915, escalating the war of attrition between French film companies Pathe and Gaumont — in the middle of the actual armed conflict of World War I — it wasn’t a given that narrative feature films would become the dominant format for cinematic storytelling. In the 1910s, serials were in. It was equally likely, and more economical, for filmmakers to string together hours of storytelling via 12-minute reels that would stand as individual episodes and end on a cliffhanger, prompting the audience to return to the theater next week to see how it all turns out. Film was still as much an emerging technology as it was an art form, one with various and uncertain business models that were being tested simultaneously. Feuillade has more in common with any director working in the Age of Streaming than with Fellini or Ford, and making a “Les Vampires...
- 11/30/2022
- by Sarah Shachat
- Indiewire
Call it a remake, a reboot, or a rethinking, the “Irma Vep” series on HBO is above all meta. Start with Louis Feuillade’s 1915 French serial about a criminal gang, Les Vampires; jump eight decades into the future to 1996, when Olivier Assayas’ “Irma Vep” found Hong Kong star Maggie Cheung starring in a movie-within-a-movie adaptating the serial. Now, more than a quarter century later, the “Personal Shopper” director’s latest work both expands upon and in some ways contradicts the Cheung movie.
The fast-paced dialogue, twisty narratives, freewheeling soundtrack, and extraordinary visuals are back. Alicia Vikander plays Mira Harberg, a Swedish actor famous for American comic-book blockbusters, who arrives on set as director René Vidal (the remarkable Vincent Macaigne) is struggling with a special effects shot. As the series unfolds, relationships form and break, careers shift, and ghosts from the past haunt the set. But Assayas brings an honesty, sincerity...
The fast-paced dialogue, twisty narratives, freewheeling soundtrack, and extraordinary visuals are back. Alicia Vikander plays Mira Harberg, a Swedish actor famous for American comic-book blockbusters, who arrives on set as director René Vidal (the remarkable Vincent Macaigne) is struggling with a special effects shot. As the series unfolds, relationships form and break, careers shift, and ghosts from the past haunt the set. But Assayas brings an honesty, sincerity...
- 7/26/2022
- by Daniel Eagan
- Indiewire
"Tomb Raider" actress Alicia Vikander stars in the new limited drama action miniseries "Irma Vep", written and directed by Olivier Assayas, now streaming on HBO Max:
"...'Irma Vep' follows a movie star named 'Mira' as she struggles with the distinctions between herself and the characters she plays. Mira is disillusioned by her career and a recent breakup, so she moves to France to star as 'Irma Vep' in a remake of the French silent film classic, 'Les Vampires'..."
Cast also includes Vincent Macaigne as 'René Vidal', Jeanne Balibar as 'Zoe', Devon Ross as 'Regina', Lars Eidinger as 'Gottfried', Vincent Lacoste as 'Edmond Lagrange', Nora Hamzawi as 'Carla', Adria Arjona as 'Laurie', Carrie Brownstein as 'Zelda', Tom Sturridge as 'Eamonn', Byron Bowers as 'Herman', Fala Chen as 'Cynthia Keng', Hippolyte Girardot as 'Robert Danjou', Alex Descas as 'Gregory Desormeaux' and Antoine Reinartz as 'Jeremie'.
"...'Irma Vep' follows a movie star named 'Mira' as she struggles with the distinctions between herself and the characters she plays. Mira is disillusioned by her career and a recent breakup, so she moves to France to star as 'Irma Vep' in a remake of the French silent film classic, 'Les Vampires'..."
Cast also includes Vincent Macaigne as 'René Vidal', Jeanne Balibar as 'Zoe', Devon Ross as 'Regina', Lars Eidinger as 'Gottfried', Vincent Lacoste as 'Edmond Lagrange', Nora Hamzawi as 'Carla', Adria Arjona as 'Laurie', Carrie Brownstein as 'Zelda', Tom Sturridge as 'Eamonn', Byron Bowers as 'Herman', Fala Chen as 'Cynthia Keng', Hippolyte Girardot as 'Robert Danjou', Alex Descas as 'Gregory Desormeaux' and Antoine Reinartz as 'Jeremie'.
- 7/12/2022
- by Unknown
- SneakPeek
“I don’t really care about movies,” the man says, nervously wringing his hands together. “I used to…but not anymore. Maybe it’ll come back?” It’s not an uncommon sentiment to hear in the Year of Our Lord 2022. What makes that comment stand out, however, is that it’s being delivered by a French filmmaker who’s sitting on the set of his latest movie. He’s admitting this to the A-list American star he’s just met and has employed, at great expense, to play the lead in it.
- 6/20/2022
- by David Fear
- Rollingstone.com
"Tomb Raider" actress Alicia Vikander stars in the new limited drama action miniseries "Irma Vep", written and directed by Olivier Assayas, now streaming on HBO Max:
"...'Irma Vep' follows a movie star named 'Mira' as she struggles with the distinctions between herself and the characters she plays. Mira is disillusioned by her career and a recent breakup, so she moves to France to star as 'Irma Vep' in a remake of the French silent film classic, 'Les Vampires'..."
Cast also includes Vincent Macaigne as 'René Vidal', Jeanne Balibar as 'Zoe', Devon Ross as 'Regina', Lars Eidinger as 'Gottfried', Vincent Lacoste as 'Edmond Lagrange', Nora Hamzawi as 'Carla', Adria Arjona as 'Laurie', Carrie Brownstein as 'Zelda', Tom Sturridge as 'Eamonn', Byron Bowers as 'Herman', Fala Chen as 'Cynthia Keng', Hippolyte Girardot as 'Robert Danjou', Alex Descas as 'Gregory Desormeaux' and Antoine Reinartz as 'Jeremie'.
"...'Irma Vep' follows a movie star named 'Mira' as she struggles with the distinctions between herself and the characters she plays. Mira is disillusioned by her career and a recent breakup, so she moves to France to star as 'Irma Vep' in a remake of the French silent film classic, 'Les Vampires'..."
Cast also includes Vincent Macaigne as 'René Vidal', Jeanne Balibar as 'Zoe', Devon Ross as 'Regina', Lars Eidinger as 'Gottfried', Vincent Lacoste as 'Edmond Lagrange', Nora Hamzawi as 'Carla', Adria Arjona as 'Laurie', Carrie Brownstein as 'Zelda', Tom Sturridge as 'Eamonn', Byron Bowers as 'Herman', Fala Chen as 'Cynthia Keng', Hippolyte Girardot as 'Robert Danjou', Alex Descas as 'Gregory Desormeaux' and Antoine Reinartz as 'Jeremie'.
- 6/19/2022
- by Unknown
- SneakPeek
It really is a miracle that any filmed piece of art ever gets made. Widen out the scope and scale of a film or a series (or any any other time-dictated variation thereof) and the sheer number of people that have to work together to get a project from an idea to a reality only seems to get more staggering as time goes on.
So it’s fitting that Olivier Assayas, in a fresh spin on his 1996 film “Irma Vep,” uses a new version of a similar story to soak in all the disparate elements that have to come together in order for a project to exist. Like its predecessor, this “Irma Vep” uses the entrance of its lead actress as a gateway to all the swirling interpersonal tensions that go into any kind of filmed story. American actress Mira (Alicia Vikander), fresh off of a press tour for a massive blockbuster,...
So it’s fitting that Olivier Assayas, in a fresh spin on his 1996 film “Irma Vep,” uses a new version of a similar story to soak in all the disparate elements that have to come together in order for a project to exist. Like its predecessor, this “Irma Vep” uses the entrance of its lead actress as a gateway to all the swirling interpersonal tensions that go into any kind of filmed story. American actress Mira (Alicia Vikander), fresh off of a press tour for a massive blockbuster,...
- 6/6/2022
- by Steve Greene
- Indiewire
"Tomb Raider" actress Alicia Vikander stars in the new limited drama action miniseries "Irma Vep", written and directed by Olivier Assayas, streaming June 6, 2022 on HBO Max:
"...'Irma Vep' follows a movie star named 'Mira' as she struggles with the distinctions between herself and the characters she plays. Mira is disillusioned by her career and a recent breakup, so she moves to France to star as 'Irma Vep' in a remake of the French silent film classic, 'Les Vampires'..."
Cast also includes Vincent Macaigne as 'René Vidal', Jeanne Balibar as 'Zoe', Devon Ross as 'Regina', Lars Eidinger as 'Gottfried', Vincent Lacoste as 'Edmond Lagrange', Nora Hamzawi as 'Carla', Adria Arjona as 'Laurie', Carrie Brownstein as 'Zelda', Tom Sturridge as 'Eamonn', Byron Bowers as 'Herman', Fala Chen as 'Cynthia Keng', Hippolyte Girardot as 'Robert Danjou', Alex Descas as 'Gregory Desormeaux' and Antoine Reinartz as 'Jeremie'.
"...'Irma Vep' follows a movie star named 'Mira' as she struggles with the distinctions between herself and the characters she plays. Mira is disillusioned by her career and a recent breakup, so she moves to France to star as 'Irma Vep' in a remake of the French silent film classic, 'Les Vampires'..."
Cast also includes Vincent Macaigne as 'René Vidal', Jeanne Balibar as 'Zoe', Devon Ross as 'Regina', Lars Eidinger as 'Gottfried', Vincent Lacoste as 'Edmond Lagrange', Nora Hamzawi as 'Carla', Adria Arjona as 'Laurie', Carrie Brownstein as 'Zelda', Tom Sturridge as 'Eamonn', Byron Bowers as 'Herman', Fala Chen as 'Cynthia Keng', Hippolyte Girardot as 'Robert Danjou', Alex Descas as 'Gregory Desormeaux' and Antoine Reinartz as 'Jeremie'.
- 6/3/2022
- by Unknown
- SneakPeek
(Welcome to The Daily Stream, an ongoing series in which the /Film team shares what they've been watching, why it's worth checking out, and where you can stream it.)
The Movie: "Irma Vep"
Where You Can Stream It: HBO Max, Criterion Channel
The Pitch: Hong Kong legend Maggie Cheung, playing a version of herself, has been hired as the lead in a remake of the classic silent serial "Les Vampires" by a fledgling French filmmaker named René Vidal (Jean-Pierre Léaud). The production is a bit of a mess, as many of Vidal's directorial choices baffle everyone, Cheung doesn't speak a lick of French, and journalists are looking to...
The post The Daily Stream: Irma Vep Perfectly Deglamorizes The Filmmaking Process appeared first on /Film.
The Movie: "Irma Vep"
Where You Can Stream It: HBO Max, Criterion Channel
The Pitch: Hong Kong legend Maggie Cheung, playing a version of herself, has been hired as the lead in a remake of the classic silent serial "Les Vampires" by a fledgling French filmmaker named René Vidal (Jean-Pierre Léaud). The production is a bit of a mess, as many of Vidal's directorial choices baffle everyone, Cheung doesn't speak a lick of French, and journalists are looking to...
The post The Daily Stream: Irma Vep Perfectly Deglamorizes The Filmmaking Process appeared first on /Film.
- 6/2/2022
- by Mike Shutt
- Slash Film
Adria Arjona (Pacific Rim: Uprising), Carrie Brownstein (The Nowwhere Inn), Jerrod Carmichael (On The Count of Three), Fala Chen (Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings) and Devon Ross have been cast opposite Alicia Vikander in Irma Vep, a limited series based on Olivier Assayas’ 1996 feature film.
The series, loosely based on the film, will be written and directed by Assayas and produced by the team behind HBO’s Euphoria: A24, Sam Levinson and Kevin Turen.
Feature film Irma Vep starred Maggie Cheung as herself and Jean-Pierre Leaud as the middle-aged French film director. It screened in the Un Certain Regard section of the 1996 Cannes Film Festival.
The series, which is set against the backdrop of a lurid crime thriller, follows Vikander’s Mira, an American movie star disillusioned by her career and a recent breakup, who comes to France to star as “Irma Vep” in a remake of the French silent film classic,...
The series, loosely based on the film, will be written and directed by Assayas and produced by the team behind HBO’s Euphoria: A24, Sam Levinson and Kevin Turen.
Feature film Irma Vep starred Maggie Cheung as herself and Jean-Pierre Leaud as the middle-aged French film director. It screened in the Un Certain Regard section of the 1996 Cannes Film Festival.
The series, which is set against the backdrop of a lurid crime thriller, follows Vikander’s Mira, an American movie star disillusioned by her career and a recent breakup, who comes to France to star as “Irma Vep” in a remake of the French silent film classic,...
- 7/19/2021
- by Denise Petski
- Deadline Film + TV
HBO has added five actors to star alongside Alicia Vikander in the upcoming limited series “Irma Vep,” Variety has learned.
Adria Arjona, Carrie Brownstein, Jerrod Carmichael, Fala Chen, and Devon Ross will all star alongside Vikander in the limited series.
In the show, Mira (Vikander) is an American movie star disillusioned by her career and a recent breakup. She comes to France to star as “Irma Vep” in a remake of the French silent film classic, “Les Vampires.” Set against the backdrop of a lurid crime thriller, Mira struggles as the distinctions between herself and the character she plays begin to blur and merge.
Arjona will star as Laurie, Mira’s ex-assistant and girlfriend. Things didn’t end well with Mira. Brownstein will play Zelda, Mira’s agent. Not interested in the Vampires project, as she has far more lucrative offers for her. Carmichael will play Eamonn, Mira’s ex-boyfriend...
Adria Arjona, Carrie Brownstein, Jerrod Carmichael, Fala Chen, and Devon Ross will all star alongside Vikander in the limited series.
In the show, Mira (Vikander) is an American movie star disillusioned by her career and a recent breakup. She comes to France to star as “Irma Vep” in a remake of the French silent film classic, “Les Vampires.” Set against the backdrop of a lurid crime thriller, Mira struggles as the distinctions between herself and the character she plays begin to blur and merge.
Arjona will star as Laurie, Mira’s ex-assistant and girlfriend. Things didn’t end well with Mira. Brownstein will play Zelda, Mira’s agent. Not interested in the Vampires project, as she has far more lucrative offers for her. Carmichael will play Eamonn, Mira’s ex-boyfriend...
- 7/19/2021
- by Joe Otterson
- Variety Film + TV
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