Subscribe to watch - 14-day free trial, then £4.99 a month
Irma Vep
Olivier Assayas' sexy and stylish ode to the madness of filmmaking, with Maggie Cheung as the Hong Kong movie star playing a Catwoman-style anti-heroine.
Director: Olivier Assayas
Overview
Esteemed director Olivier Assayas (Personal Shopper, The Clouds of Sils Maria) turns his lens inwards with this sexy and stylish ode to the madness of filmmaking. French filmmaker René Vidal (Day for Night’s Jean-Pierre Léaud) is commissioned by a TV company to direct a remake of Louis Feuillade’s classic silent-era serial, Les Vampires. Maggie Cheung (playing a version of herself) is cast in the central role and heads to Paris for filming – where she finds herself amid the chaos of artistic differences, petty rivalries and the immense egos which make up a film set.
Irma Vep is Assayas at his lightest and most playful - simultaneously a gently satirical dig at the state of French cinema and a love letter to the female star who would become his wife.
Related
Orphée Orphée
Drama 1950 96 mins Director: Jean Cocteau
Magical retelling of the Orpheus myth by poet, playwright, artist and filmmaker Jean Cocteau.
Air Doll Air Doll
Drama 2009 116 mins Director: Hirokazu Koreeda
A life-size blow-up doll comes to life and falls in love with a video store clerk in Kore-eda Hirokazu’s haunting, melancholy meditation on urban alienation.
Floating Skyscrapers Floating Skyscrapers
Drama 2013 89 mins Director: Tomasz Wasilewski
Hailed as ‘Poland’s first LGBT film’, Tomasz Wasilewski’s striking drama follows a champion swimmer whose gay relationship causes ripples.
Sweet Sue Sweet Sue
Comedy 2022 100 mins Director: Leo Leigh
A shameless woman finds her new lover’s son wants to divide them in this cringe comic drama starring Maggie O’Neill.
El Sur El Sur
Drama 1983 94 mins Director: Víctor Erice
Victor Erice’s second masterpiece, following The Spirit of the Beehive, is a rarely seen meditation on memory, deception and Spain’s 20th-century history.
20,000 Species of Bees 20,000 Species of Bees
Drama 2023 128 mins Director: Estibaliz Urresola Solaguren
Sofía Otero ignites this warm, rich Spanish drama woven from a child’s probing question: who am I?
Face Face
Crime 1997 101 mins Director: Antonia Bird
Robert Carlyle and Ray Winstone are members of a criminal gang that tears itself apart after a heist goes wrong, in Antonia Bird’s stylish thriller.
Bande à part Bande à part
Crime 1964 95 mins Director: Jean-Luc Godard
Godard's playful tribute to the Hollywood pulp crime movies of the 1940s, executed with typically Gallic cool.
Last and First Men Last and First Men
Animation & Artists Moving Image 2020 70 mins Director: Jóhann Jóhannsson
Two billion years ahead of us, a future race of humans finds itself on the verge of extinction. Tilda Swinton narrates this visually stunning lament for humanity by acclaimed composer Jóhann Jóhannsson (Sicario, Arrival).
Enys Men Enys Men
Horror 2022 91 mins Director: Mark Jenkin
Mark Jenkin follows Bait with this chilling, endlessly mysterious folk horror tale, beautifully shot on grainy 16mm.
Before the Devil Knows You're Dead Before the Devil Knows You're Dead
Thriller 2008 117 mins Director: Sidney Lumet
Philip Seymour Hoffman and Ethan Hawke star as criminal brothers whose botched heist leads to escalating turmoil, in Sidney Lumet's twisty thriller.
The Cow Who Sang a Song Into the Future The Cow Who Sang a Song Into the Future
Fantasy 2022 99 mins Director: Francisca Alegría
Francisca Alegría brings together family trauma and ecology into a poetic journey of rebirth. A mysterious and poetic tale on our collapsing ecosystem and finding balance.
The Death of Louis XIV The Death of Louis XIV
Historical drama 2016 115 mins Director: Albert Serra
The last days of the Sun King, evoked with sombre beauty by Albert Serra. The legendary Jean-Pierre Léaud brings ineffable presence to the title role.
The 400 Blows The 400 Blows
Drama 1959 100 mins Director: François Truffaut
François Truffaut’s French New Wave landmark is one of the greatest movies about adolescence.
Stolen Kisses Stolen Kisses
Comedy 1968 91 mins Director: François Truffaut
Naively idealistic and largely inept both in his dealings with women and in any job, Antoine clumsily courts Christine while working for a private detective agency.
Bed and Board Bed and Board
Drama 1970 97 mins Director: François Truffaut
In this typically ambivalent comedy from Truffaut, Antoine Doinel (Jean-Pierre Léaud) becomes a father... But is he mature enough for parenthood?
Anne and Muriel [aka Two English Girls] Anne and Muriel [aka Two English Girls]
Drama 1971 130 mins Director: François Truffaut
Truffaut adopts a detached, delicate tone in treating the troubled ménage-à-trois that develops between a young French writer (Léaud) and two English sisters in the early 1900s.
Love on the Run Love on the Run
Drama 1978 94 mins Director: François Truffaut
Separated from Christine and uncertain about his latest relationship, Antoine (Jean-Pierre Léaud) has finally written a novel inspired by his own experiences in this final chapter of François Truffaut’s series.
Non-Fiction Non-Fiction
Comedy 2017 107 mins Director: Olivier Assayas
Juliette Binoche and Guillaume Canet lead the cast in Olivier Assayas’ wryly comic look at the quandaries of the publishing world.
Demonlover Demonlover
Drama 2002 121 mins Director: Olivier Assayas
Olivier Assayas' neo-noir cyber-thriller is a chilling exploration of the nexus between sex and violence available at the click of a button.
Personal Shopper Personal Shopper
Drama 2016 106 mins Director: Olivier Assayas
Kristen Stewart reunites with Olivier Assayas to play an A-List celebrity's personal shopper, who keeps receiving strange text messages from an unknown source.
La Belle et la Bête La Belle et la Bête
Fantasy 1946 95 mins Director: Jean Cocteau
Jean Cocteau’s ravishingly restored 1946 film is a cinematic classic. “Five stars. [This] magical exploration of the fairytale is a compelling and bizarre masterpiece” – Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian
Orphée Orphée
Drama 1950 96 mins Director: Jean Cocteau
Magical retelling of the Orpheus myth by poet, playwright, artist and filmmaker Jean Cocteau.
Air Doll Air Doll
Drama 2009 116 mins Director: Hirokazu Koreeda
A life-size blow-up doll comes to life and falls in love with a video store clerk in Kore-eda Hirokazu’s haunting, melancholy meditation on urban alienation.
Floating Skyscrapers Floating Skyscrapers
Drama 2013 89 mins Director: Tomasz Wasilewski
Hailed as ‘Poland’s first LGBT film’, Tomasz Wasilewski’s striking drama follows a champion swimmer whose gay relationship causes ripples.
Sweet Sue Sweet Sue
Comedy 2022 100 mins Director: Leo Leigh
A shameless woman finds her new lover’s son wants to divide them in this cringe comic drama starring Maggie O’Neill.
Bande à part Bande à part
Crime 1964 95 mins Director: Jean-Luc Godard
Godard's playful tribute to the Hollywood pulp crime movies of the 1940s, executed with typically Gallic cool.