`IRMA' A WONDERFULLY CRITICAL LOOK AT FRENCH CINEMA.

Byline: Bob Strauss Daily News Film Critic

If you're among the many who think American movies have gone downhill, it may be a comfort to know that the situation is worse in France.

``Irma Vep'' dissects the sorry state of French cinema with a sharp critical scalpel, while at the same time exhibiting the thrilling artistic edge associated with the best French movies of the past. Marvelously visual and intellectually daring, it's also an accessible human comedy with a deep, underlying affection for film at its best.

And at its maddening worst. Kind of like ``Living in Oblivion,'' only this nightmare's no dream; the story opens up in the middle of a chaotic, underbudgeted Paris movie production. It's a remake of Louis Feuillade's World War I-era, silent serial ``Les Vampires,'' in which slinky female cat burglar Irma Vep terrorized Paris.

Sound something like, oh, ``The Saint''? Well, bad basic idea to the contrary, the movie within this movie has the extra added burden of burnt-out new-wave director Rene Vidal (incomprehensible new-wave acting icon Jean-Pierre Leaud) at the helm. He's prone to mumbling instructions like ``You must respect your silence,'' hating everything his cast and crew do and suffering nervous breakdowns in the dead of night.

Meanwhile, there are nasty spats and frantic fumblings all over the set. Into this mess wanders Maggie Cheung, one of the more versatile Hong Kong superstars (her credits range from Jackie Chan action farces to the superb historic melodrama ``Actress''), playing herself. Vidal wants her to play Irma Vep. The costume designer Zoe (Nathalie Richard), upon squeezing Cheung into a skin-tight, latex costume, wants her, period.

As open and curious as she is bemused, Cheung wanders through the distressed production trying to make sense of it all. She's eventually driven to trying a little cat burgling herself, although that doesn't seem to clear much up. Indeed, while never losing track of each character's specific confusion, writer-director Olivier Assayas uses Cheung's journey as a kind of microcosmic exploration of where film is at in general.

Maggie and Zoe discuss the relative stupidity of American movies. Later, the Chinese actress tries to defend the great personal works of the aging European auteurs - even though she doesn't really know what she's talking about, since French art films aren't shown in Hong Kong - to a young TV interviewer who thinks only stuff like ``The Fifth Element'' should be made.

Employing astonishingly complex, handheld camerawork without ever making a big deal about it, filling the soundtrack with evocative Eurotechno music (sort of the ultimate contradiction in terms, that, but the songs work great), blurring the lines between reality and artifice (sometimes several levels deep), Assayas serves up the full range of cinematic possibilities while lamenting the art form's degradation.

It's a great ploy, one that tempers pessimistic analysis with the most exhilarating sense of hope. Playful, poignant and provocative, ``Irma Vep'' may be the key French film of the '90s; pointing the way - it's own unique way - toward a better tomorrow.

THE FACTS

The film: ``Irma Vep'' (NR; nudity, drug use, language).

The stars: Maggie Cheung, Jean-Pierre Leaud, Nathalie Richard.

Behind the scenes: Written and directed by Olivier Assayas. Produced by Georges Benayoun. Released by Zeitgeist Films.

Running time: One hour, 36 minutes.

Playing: Music Hall, Beverly Hills.

Our rating: Four Stars.

CAPTION(S):

Photo

Photo: In ``Irma Vep,'' Maggie Cheung plays herself in a film within the film. A burnt-out new-wave director wants her to play the title character.