Irma Vep

Time Out by

A delightfully nonchalant movie, complete with some nice satirical barbs aimed at contemporary French film culture, and fine performances throughout.

Slate by David Edelstein

An overpraised yet amusing satire.

Empire by David Parkinson

Ultimately, Irma Vep doesn't quite have the courage of its convictions, but still provides plenty of scathing satire on the state of French cinema.

Variety by David Rooney

A slender but appealing divertissement about a has-been auteur attempting to remake the French silent classic "Les Vampires," the film's wry digs at the institution of Gallic art movies and at the anarchic confusion of the filmmaking process should amuse hip fest audiences.

The New York Times by Janet Maslin

A minor but witty entry on the exceptionally strong slate of French films at the New York Film Festival this year.

Chicago Reader by Jonathan Rosenbaum

This unexpected masterpiece was assembled so quickly that it has an improvisational feel and a surrealist capacity to access its own unconscious—traits it shares with Feuillade's work.

The A.V. Club by Keith Phipps

A funny and fascinatingly open-ended look at the state of the art, Irma Vep is well worth a look.

TV Guide Magazine by Ken Fox

Cheung, slinking around the corridors of her hotel in her sheath of shiny black latex to the dissonant chords of Sonic Youth, is an instant icon of everything.

The A.V. Club by Scott Tobias

The film is a true torchbearer of the French New Wave—playful, restless, full of invention, and born of an overwhelming discontent for the status quo.