A: A making of Irma Vep about a making of Irma Vep (and the making of that making of Irma Vep) about Irma Vep
A few days ago I recommended the new HBO/A24 series, Irma Vep, to a friend. Then, I rewatched the 1996 film for the first time since a particularly pretentious period of mid-pandemic francophilia and realized that watching today’s Irma Vep minus the context (the 1996 film of the same name/by the same director, and the 1915-16 French silent serial, Les Vampires)* would probably be as captivating (or less) as watching an episode of Corrections with no background: Interesting? Maybe?…on a basic level. But nowhere near as “conceptually” complex as intended.
It sounds silly, but something like Irma Vep shares a connection, albeit abstract, with projects like Corrections. Besides being called a meta late-night show itself, Corrections requires a degree of competence in a language that, until recently, wasn’t transcribed. New viewers either need to rewind to get the full picture or blindly trust that whatever happening is funny and they will understand more with time. As extended bits go however, in my experience, it’s far more enjoyable to watch the madness unfold than it is to look back and appreciate it: the same goes for other forms of meta entertainment. Luckily, there are still three more episodes (in as many weeks) before this rabbit hole of callbacks, meta reflections, and entertainment double entendre resurfaces. Plenty of time to get caught up!
For me—and plenty other genres of art appreciators—projects like Irma Vep, clocking in somewhere at “a little too niche,” are just where the fun begins. I realize this all either sounds boring (to which I say, ‘missing f’ isn’t for everyone but thx for stopping by) or pretentious ( ya, sue me!…sorry America hates intellectualism), but Marvel fans get to do this all the doo-dah-day. Twenty-eight movies? Make way, flop! This rabbit hole goes back 107 years.
In the subtitle, I couldn’t help but make a jab at another pretentious—ridiculously tedious—work from 1996…a pseudo-adaptation of which, was also, coincidentally, adapted by A24. However, for ~SEO~ blah blah blah, the title/subtitle of this project should read something like: Untangling Irma Vep, 4 Things You Missed in A24’s New Show. I guess it’s not just about SEO…titles also help with like ~clarity~ but I think mine’s pretty funny. Buzzfeed title(derogatory) aside, that concept, my dear reader(s), is exactly what you’re in for. It would be almost impossible, and no-doubt thankless, to pull at every thread offered throughout the new series. Having completed (near) thankless television explaining before, this time, I’m just poking around inside the rabbit hole—untangling four of Irma Vep (2022)’s meta narratives—as opposed to diving in blind.
* To be clear, I have not seen, nor will I ever see, all seven hours of Les Vampires
A Brief Glossary/Cast of Characters, then the cutest little chart you’ll ever see
Les Vampires (1915-16):
A French silent serial from director Louis Feuillade. Each of the ten installments follows an underground Parisian criminal gang—known as ‘The Vampires’—as they evade an investigative journalist and rival criminals. The group is officially led by Le Grand Vampire, but is inspired by and often obedient to a criminal seductress and master-spy known as Irma Vep (an anagram for ‘Vampire’). Feuillade loosely structured early episodes of the serial, allowing actors to improvise on set. While later installments followed a more strict script.
Louis Feuillade-director: Les Vampires director. Although he is a famous director of the French silent film era, Les Vampires was not critically considered (nor appreciated) until decades after its release.
Musidora-actress (Irma Vep): French actress, writer, director, and—to a lesser extent—aerialist. Feuillade mentored Musidora, not only using her as the spirit of The Vamps, but later helping her achieve success producing and writing films. Associated with the French silent film era.
Irma Vep (1996)
Olivier Assayas’ 1996 movie about a fictional remaking of Les Vampires called Irma Vep (the movie within the movie). Maggie Cheung plays a fictional version of herself who is cast as the titular Parisian criminal, Irma Vep. While the movie within the movie follows similar Les Vampires plots, the real movie tracks Cheung and crew members on an off set, exploring how film production affects different interior lives and interpersonal relationships. En tout, Irma Vep satirizes ~the industry~ of movie making and the personalities that make it up, while celebrating the Vamps of yore. Director Olivier Assayas calls it a meditation on the state of the French Film industry. Some critics go further, claiming it also addresses the state of France in the global economy.1
Olivier Assayas-director:**see below
Maggie Cheung/Irma Vep (played by Maggie Cheung): Maggie Cheung plays a fictionalized version of herself in 1996’s Irma Vep. The character, Maggie Cheung, is fresh off starring in a Hong Kong action movie and is an outsider—by way of race, language, and culture—in France. She is exhausted by her own grueling schedule, blurring the lines, for Cheung, between herself and Vep.
René Vidal (played by Jean-Pierre Léaud): Jean-Pierre Léaud was an iconic face of the French New Wave. In his early career, he came to be associated with François Truffaut, often representing the on-screen auto-fictional version of the famed French New Wave director. Léaud plays René Vidal, the fictional aging director of the movie within a movie, Irma Vep. Vidal was a famous director of the French New Wave, but is largely considered a has been by the greater French film community. He struggles with myriad mental health issues that make his film sets unreliable and often hostile. After “incidents” on set and a violent outburst at his home, Vidal quits/is fired and replaced (from) the film.
Irma Vep (2022):
It’s hard to just give it just a few sentences…Kind of like an updated version of Irma Vep (96), but updated in regards to the lives of its creators, curators, the legacy of the original film, AND the state of the entertainment industry.
Olivier Assayas-director**: Former film critic turned director. Assayas’ work includes: Irma Vep (96), Cold Water (94), and Clouds of Sils Maria (2014) (among others). He was briefly married to Maggie Cheung (1998-2001), and was involved with another of his actresses, Mia Hansen-Løve (Late August Early September 1998), from 2002-2017. His frequent collaborators include Kristen Stewart and Juliette Binoche.
Mira/Irma Vep (played by Alicia Vikander): Alicia Vikander plays an American actress, Mira, who goes to Paris to play Irma Vep for the new television limited series, Irma Vep, directed by René Vidal. Upon arrival, she is exhausted from both jet lag and recently finishing a Marvel-type action movie. Mira’s personal life is plagued by romantic and professional relationships imbalanced in power.
Regina (played by Devon Ross): Mira’s assistant. Regina is a former film-student and aspiring director. She is a fan of René Vidal and his body of work, of which she alludes to studying. She is more than familiar with Les Vampires, Feuillade, and his legacy in French-cinema. Regina helps Mira build and understand Irma Vep, the character, not just the icon.
René Vidal (played by Vincent Macaigne): THIS, is a little confusing (and what I mean by the SORT OF in the below chart’s bottom right) but bear with me…Imagine the Les Vampires legacy Everything Everywhere-style: In one universe René Vidal, an aging French New Wave director, is inspired by Les Vampires and wants to adapt it into a contemporary—albeit experimental—film about Irma Vep. SPOILER: Before completing the film, Vidal removes himself/is replaced as director following a violent panic attack and historic hostility on set. He explodes, cutting up the dailies to create an expression of his frustration. This is the Vidal of 1996’s Irma Vep. In another, slightly different universe, Vidal makes a 1996 Irma Vep film to middling acclaim, also facing threats of removal/replacement by financiers. He goes on to marry and divorce the star of his film, Chinese actress, “Jade Lee”. We are led to believe their relationship was toxic for both parties. Vidal has since sought treatment for bipolar disorder which contributed to his alleged mistreatment of actors on set and erratic behavior. He is now directing a TV mini-series true to the original Les Vampires-serial form. It is unclear whether his version of Irma Vep with Jade Lee was as strictly faithful to the original serial. This is the version of Vidal we see in Irma Vep (22). Although both Vidals bear some resemblance to Assayas, 2022 Vidal seems more purposefully shaped in Assayas’ image.
For the remainder of this essay I will include the two-digit year (96/22) in parentheses to distinguish between show and movie, and the actress’ initial(s) (M/MC/AK) to distinguish between Veps. “MC”, when distinguishing between Veps, stands for the fictionalized Maggie Cheung who plays Irma Vep, not the real actress. As the René Vidal actors are less individually recognizable*, I’ve found it easier to distinguish between the two portrayals via year (as opposed to their initials). When referring to Irma Vep as the “movie inside the movie,” I will—again—use the project’s year (96/22) followed by “I” (for Interior adaptation).
*Musidora and Maggie Cheung remain in the periphery of the cultural zeitgeist thanks to their contributions to iconic movements in film history (Silent Film Era/Hong Kong cinema-90s Indie Movement. Alicia Vikander is fairly obvious via her own credits or by process of elimination. I add this justification—mostly for myself—as although Jean-Pierre Léaud (René Vidal of IV 96) is a recognizable face of the French New Wave, I don’t think his name bears the same weight today as a Maggie Cheung-level international star.
The Good Stuff
Olivier Assayas: Marriage and Fetishization
Olivier Assayas not only directed Maggie Cheung (playing herself) in Irma Vep (96), but was married to her from 1998-2001. Their relationship ended amicably enough to warrant working together again (Clean 2004), but Assayas seems to be using themes of their marriage in his contemporary project to address his own desire.
Irma Vep (22) reflects on the nature of Assayas and Cheung’s marriage (Ep 2 and 3) via Vidal (22)’s marriage to fictional Chinese actress Jade Lee, the star of his previous Vep project. Seeing as Vidal dreams in clips from Irma Vep (96), it’s no stretch associating the fictional director (22) and Assayas (Ep 3). The relationship isn’t used in comparison to Mira as much as it is the method by which Vidal’s therapist gets him to open up about the true inspiration behind his current project: Fetish.
Vidal was obsessed with the spy Emma Peel from The Avengers as a child—and broadly, women in catsuits. He tries to qualify his pre-pubescent desire by underscoring his respect for Peel actress, Diana Rigg. His therapist however, is quick to question how precise his distinctions—between actress, character, and catsuit—really are. If the therapist is right and his catsuit fetish crosses beyond characters and into the actresses playing them, can Assayas direct Irma Vep (character) without simultaneously exploiting the actor?
The question of exploitation is especially apparent by Episode 5 when recreating a scene where Vep(M) is drugged, presumably raped, then tossed out the window. When Feuillade shot it, the police shut down his set for two months. Vidal (22) is aroused by the takes, watching as his fetish—reanimated and made wild by Mira—is tamed and made complicit to his will, time and time again. Are we watching Assayas acknowledge his own fetishization of Cheung? the orientalism pervasive in his original work? the blurred nature of relationships between actor and director? Or—worst cast scenario—are we just watching Assayas congratulate himself for recognizing all of the above in a sort of auteur’s victory lap?
We also watch Mira, heartbroken by her former assistant/girlfriend, process her desire to be dominated in the context of her on and off-screen relationships. She rarely submits to anyone on set, but seems to enjoy when Regina takes her to task. She likes that Zoe desires her but is not interested enough to play along. Sexuality aside, it seems Mira might be more turned on by less powerful people dominating her than simply feeling desired via submission.
**AUTHOR’s NOTE: This is the first time I’ve written something that would most definitely benefit from being a video essay. Who do I think I am?! Brooey Deschanel?!! HAhh. No. I’ll just chug along, writing myself in circles until the words don’t mean anything anymore.
Dreamscape Eau de Parfum: The Movie Industrial Complex
It’s not a novel idea—in this late stage capitalist hellscape—that monied interests produce the content they want, pushing their various narratives and products on the public. Assayas addresses this phenomena twofold: First, through fictional producer Gautier Parcheminerie, who makes it clear to Vidal that the only reason he is funding Irma Vep (22-I) is so Mira will sign an ambassador contract, becoming the face of his international campaign for a perfume called “Dreamscape”. Second, the same producer is adamant that a Chinese actress be part of the project so the film is marketable to a larger international audience (Ep. 4).
The latter is even more interesting when compounded with the plot of Irma Vep (96): Neither the back up director (hired by producers, on call in case Vidal didn’t work out), nor a vocal faction of the crew understand the choice of Maggie Cheung, the international movie star, for Irma Vep (96-I). They consider Vep a distinctly Parisian role and Cheung distinctly not that. We can assume they are pleased by the new director’s decision to drop Cheung and promote her stunt double to top billing. Considering he spoke of Irma Vep (96) as a coming to terms with France’s place in a 21st century global economy, Assayas could be pointing toward two extremes: one scenario where an Asian actress faces an anachronistic public, ultimately being shunned, and another where she is shoe-horned in, both at the behest of corporate interest rather than in pursuit of diverse narratives.
In reality, Chanel sponsored and produced Assayas’ film Clouds of Sils Maria, allowing him to shoot on 35-mm film. Between multi-project collaborator and Chanel Ambassador Kristin Stewart, Sils Maria, and Gautier’s Mira-centric perfume campaign, Assayas’ diagnosis of the state of film signals his coming to terms with the financial reality of movie making, while warning that art should not be first and foremost a corporate vessel.
Regina aka Kristen Stewart
Kristen Stewart has starred in two Assayas films (Clouds of Sils Maria (2014) and Personal Shopper (2016). Assayas helped Stewart write and direct her first short film. Regina reflects parts of both Stewart’s Assayas roles, while bearing a striking resemblance to the star herself. Further, Stewart seems like the kind of actress on which Assayas based Mira: dedicated to their art while simultaneously disillusioned with an industry that prefers her as a franchise star.
Assayas renewed public faith in Stewart as a leading lady and continues to mentor her writing and directing…Sound like anyone else(rhetorical)? Exactly. Musidora and Feuillade. Might this explain why Assayas named his fictional actress Mira?—itself, an anagram for Irma, who is—and I’m surely repeating myself at this point—the muse and spiritual center of Les Vampires gang. If so, what does having a real life Musidora mean to Assayas? To be clear, I actually don’t think the Vidals see their Veps as Musidoras, rather as separate elements they hope to hide inside of Vep. For Vidal (96), it is the magical or unknowable element of the New Wave, unsurprisingly manifest via general orientalism that turns to his fetishization and romanticization of Cheung. For Vidal (22), it is dominance over his boyhood fantasy, his ex-wife, his former projects, and thus, his failures. Assayas, while present in both Vidals, seems to use the pyramid of directors (himself at the top) to shrug at his audience, as if saying, “I don’t know what the point is either, but there is something here, so let’s consider everything.”.
The Crew: Blurring Realities On Set
Assayas is fairly comfortable blurring characters with and across actors, and fantasy and reality (see above)—especially in his last few years with Kristen Stewart. In both Irma Vep adaptations, the crew functions as different parts of Assayas’ narrative web: While the 1996 crew bears a resemblance to the reluctant French public—treating Cheung as either a toy or a stunt—the 2022 crew are Les Vampires themselves. Since the start of the series we are shown their foreign (on set) language and codes (through Mira), how they operate outside or above the law, and why positions are near possible to replace. So far, the best example of this is a minor plot in Episode 2: German-actor, Gottfried (Lars Edinger), arrives in Paris and demands his appointed escort (Carla, member of the crew) procure him crack, as he is an addict and refuses to perform without it, threatening to jump out his window if his demands are not met. Later we watch Carla dawn her well trained anonymity to do Les Vampires bidding (meaning, for now, the work generally related to smooth production). She both guarantees the actor is in a first floor hotel room and palms the crack she tracked down to the attendant. That evening, we experience awe then uncomfortable awareness the first time Mira attends a crew party, just as Guérande (the journalist from the original serial) felt discovering Les Vampires and Vep at the ‘The Howling Cat’ night club. As Mira and Irma begin to blur, she feels the sway she has on the crew and the power she has over them, shutting down Zoe and pushing back, her hardest yet, at an already spiraling Vidal (Ep 5).
So. Many. Rabbit Holes.
The list goes on: Guérande (Les Vampires) the weak—supposed “hero—character included in what seems like a nod to the genre as opposed to necessity, versus 1996’s out of touch journalist, versus 2022’s Guérande (Edmond Lagrange played by Vincent Lacoste) not understanding his role, insisting that his character needs more depth. The Vidals’ attempts at direct adaptation, considering Feuillade’s loose scripts and tendency towards improv. On “content”: How Les Vampires, as a serial and creative endeavor, was forged by domestic and foreign consumerism. What Assayas wanted to say about the film industry in his 96 adaptation (the death of French cinema, reboot culture etc.) and what that says about his rebooted reboot. (I didn’t even get to talk about the Vampification (Irma-fication) of Cheung and Mira via their costumes…(they both use their catsuits to sleuth and burgle).
On another, less theoretical note: much can be said about what streaming has done to internet content, entertainment, art, what have you. Where Irma Vep (96) achieved cult status, Irma Vep (22) is on HBOMax, being distributed by A24, indie film’s distribution darling. If the series piques your interest, without changing streaming services, you can easily watch Irma Vep (96) and Les Vampires—catching yourself up on the pseudo-trilogy.
I would like to avoid veering into “conscious consumerism” territory and don’t even get me started down the ~consumption as a means to build identity~ fun house (mostly because internet princess aka rayne fisher-quann said it better than I could ever hope). HOWEVER, Irma Vep (22) has been making me think a lot about what we consume and why—in an age where you can stream whatever you want whenever you want—we consume it. When engaging with something like Irma Vep (22), something that—best case scenario—requires investment in its source material and general history, could it be that we are searching for more meaningful content consumption OR, by rehashing Irma Vep are we just boosting Turner Classic’s engagement, which is owned by HBO, strengthening WarnerMedia’s foothold in the market, increasing Warner Brothers-Discovery’s profit margins?
Woof. Capitalism.
4 stars to Irma Vep (22)
5 stars to this masterpiece: Irma Vep (96) finale sequence
Title Revisited:
It’s a joke about Infinite Jest
Dale Hudson, "'Just Play Yourself, "Maggie Cheung"': Irma Vep, Unthinking National Cinemas, and Rethinking Transnational Stardom," Screen, vol. 47, no. 2 (summer 2006), p. 232.
Other Sources/things I have read and listened to that most definitely informed my writing beyond the original materials:
NPR: HBO's sly new 'Irma Vep' proves there's still no business like show business
The Atlantic: The Delightful Pretentiousness of Irma Vep
The Atlantic: Get Excited for Kristen Stewart in the Trailer for ‘Clouds of Sils Maria’
Collider: Kristen Stewart to Reteam With Olivier Assayas in 'Irma Vep' Series
Film Comment Podcast: Olivier Assayas’s Irma Vep Irma Vep with Adam Nayman and Beatrice