An auteur and his superstar ex had 'unresolved' business. So he remade a classic: his own
French filmmaker Oliver Assayas' "Irma Vep," a streaming series adaptation of his own movie adaptation of a silent serial, has become a stealthy summer treat, and the finale, which premiered Monday on HBO and HBO Max, sends its characters spinning off in different directions with a joyfully knowing bit of surprise casting.
By turns playful, hypnotic, laceratingly funny and deeply vulnerable, the series goes to places Assayas could not in a feature film, exploring unexpected corners of the characters' lives and personalities. As Assayas described the show, "It's a serious comedy about cinema and the people who make it."
In films such as "Demonlover," "Summer Hours," "Clouds of Sils Maria," "Personal Shopper" and "Non-Fiction," Assayas has long made nimble movies that meditate on the anxieties and issues of modern life, grappling with how technology and globalization impact people's everyday interactions and relationships.
Produced by A24, the production company behind the juggernaut "Euphoria," the series "Irma Vep" is an adaptation of Assayas' 1996 film of the same name. In the movie, Hong Kong superstar Maggie Cheung played herself as a famous actor who has come to Paris to be in an independent adaptation of Louis Feuillade's 1915 serial "Les Vampires." An affectionate ode to filmmaking and life on set, the film is also a head-spinning exploration of identity, as Cheung's character falls deeper into her part in the film.
Assayas and Cheung would marry after shooting "Irma Vep"; by the time Assayas directed her again in 2004's "Clean," for which Cheung won the best actress prize at in Hong Kong.
