[Deep Focus]  As soon as it started making the rounds on the
festival circuit, I started getting mixed signals on Irma Vep,
the new on-a-shoestring feature from the underdistributed French
director Olivier Assayas. My pal Mike couldn't stop raving about
it, said I should get on my knees and pray for it to find
distribution since I missed the New York premiere. Meanwhile, my
pal Pablo reported back to me from the Telluride Film Festival
with a conspicuous lack of enthusiasm. Pressed for details, he
sort of shrugged (I imagine he shrugged, anyway; this was a
telephone conversation) and mumbled something about half the
audience sleeping through half the movie.  To my eyes, that
about sums it up -- Irma Vep is an arguably brilliant film with
the noncontradictory potential to bore half its intended
audience and enchant the other half. In my case, I was bored and
enchanted by turns.  I guess you could call me an Assayas fan,
since I've managed to see four of the six features he's directed
to date. At an Assayas ret