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Article: From Jean-Paul Belmondo to Stan Brakhage: romanticism and intertextuality in Irma Vep and Les Miserables.
- Article from:
- Film Criticism
- Article date:
- September 22, 2002
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2002 Allegheny College. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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About halfway through Irma Vep (1996), Olivier Assayas' self-reflexive film about remaking Les Vampires (Louis Feuillade, 1915), a reporter interviews Maggie Cheung, the Hong Kong action star chosen to play the title character. The reporter asks a series of leading questions which point to his firm belief that the anti-commercial, pretentious personal ecriture of the French New Wave has caused the ruination of French cinema.
Ms. Cheung begins the interview discussing working with Jackie Chan. The reporter loves discussing the Hong Kong action cinema, enthusing about the "choreography of extreme violence" in the work of John Woo, whom he calls a "genius." After ...