As Episode 1 of "Irma Vep" (2022 release from France; 8 episodes of about 55 min each) opens, the Alicia Vikander character (we later learn it is an American actress called Mira) arrives in Paris and is whisked away to a photoshoot for her news movie "Doomsday". Mira is actually in Paris to star in an adaptation of the 1916 French silent classic "Les Vampires", and was hired by the French director who envisions her playing "Irma, pure evil in a sexy kinda way"... At this point we are 10 min into Episode 1.
Couple of comments: in 1996 French writer-director Olivier Assayas had a great idea to make a movie-within-a-movie about the movie adaptation of a 1916 French silent movie, and along the way casting Hong Kong movie super star Maggie Cheung who plays herself in the film. Now more than a quarter century later, Assayas decided to reimagine his 1996 movie into an 8 part mini-series, and my immediate reaction was: why? But I must admit I was rather curious about it, and now having seen the initial two episodes of this, I must say that the mini-series is a very different experience compared to the movie. It's not that the acting is inadequate. Alicia Vikander and Vincent Mcaigne (as the director) are tops. And the mini-series is very stylish and even sleek (plus it plays the 1979 classic tune "Moscow Discow" by Belgian electronics band Telex in the photoshoot scene, extra bonus point for that!). But it also lacks the originality, adrenaline and urgency of the 1996 movie. Yes, the 1996 movie was a bit rough around the edges, but frankly that is part of its charm. So based on the initial two episodes, the choice so far between the 1996 movie and the 2022 mini-series is an easy one: the 1996 movie wins.
"Irma Vep" (the mini-series) premiered on HBO Max a week ago, and new episodes are available on Sundays. If you are watching the mini-series without having seen the 1996 movie, I encourage you to conclude the mini-series and then check out the 1996 movie, and draw your own conclusion.
