I've just finished episode 5:
To start, Irma Vep is amazing. The loose and relaxed filming style is analogous to the whole of the series, it progresses at the pace of life letting the plot go where it will and for the most part avoiding a traditional plot structure in a manner reminiscent of - and I know this is a lofty comparison - the Chekhovian style, but I do understand that it is not necessarily for everyone. The series does skewer the film industry to an extent but I don't think that's the point. It's good cinema first, and commentary second.
Irma Vep's real highlight though might just be the acting, when I say it's good, I mean it's really good. The entire cast is clearly having an absolute ball with this, especially Alicia Vikander (Mira Harberg/Irma Vep) and Lars Eidinger (Gottfried), and it shows. At times you want to just sit back and watch them act, or laugh from the sheer joy of it.
Back to the aforementioned relaxed style though. Its presence in Irma Vep is an excellent example of the value of the mini-series, or serial as René would have us call it (to note, this is not Oliver Assayas' first foray into it - see Carlos). The form allows the series to find the confidence to progress in that relaxed speed of life manner, without feeling constrained or like it's missing something (to be clear, this in no way means that it moves detrimentally. Slow either).
And finally, have we mentioned how hilariously meta this whole thing is? It's a series about a director remaking as a mini-series/serial a film he directed in which he met his ex wife, which was the remake of another film - which is actually the remake as a mini-series of a film in which the director met his ex wife which was *about* the remake of another film (did you follow that?).
Irma Vep's real highlight though might just be the acting, when I say it's good, I mean it's really good. The entire cast is clearly having an absolute ball with this, especially Alicia Vikander (Mira Harberg/Irma Vep) and Lars Eidinger (Gottfried), and it shows. At times you want to just sit back and watch them act, or laugh from the sheer joy of it.
Back to the aforementioned relaxed style though. Its presence in Irma Vep is an excellent example of the value of the mini-series, or serial as René would have us call it (to note, this is not Oliver Assayas' first foray into it - see Carlos). The form allows the series to find the confidence to progress in that relaxed speed of life manner, without feeling constrained or like it's missing something (to be clear, this in no way means that it moves detrimentally. Slow either).
And finally, have we mentioned how hilariously meta this whole thing is? It's a series about a director remaking as a mini-series/serial a film he directed in which he met his ex wife, which was the remake of another film - which is actually the remake as a mini-series of a film in which the director met his ex wife which was *about* the remake of another film (did you follow that?).