At the end of May, HBO TV channel finished airing the drama, spy thriller and satirical comedy «The Sympathizer». The plot is based on the novel of the same name by Vietnamese American writer Viet Thanh Nguyen, who won the Pulitzer Prize in 2016. In the review below, we admire the new reincarnations of ex-Iron Man Robert Downey Jr. and tell you whether the story looks good in general.
Pluses:
a moderately interesting and non-American-centric story about the Vietnam War; witty satire, particularly of Hollywood; a large number of genres coexist more or less harmoniously, though not always; a well-sung lead role from Hoa Xuande; excellent performances in various guises by Robert Downey Jr.
Minuses:
uneven narrative pace: some episodes are fascinating, others — make you bored; probably not all Ukrainian viewers will want to dive into the intricacies of the plot about the consequences of the war of the distant past while the present war continues in our country; lack of characters to whom one would like to empathize
«The Sympathizer»
Genre historical drama, spy thriller, black comedy
Authors Park Chang Wook, John McKellar
Directors Park Chang-Wook, Fernando Meirelles, Mark Manden
Starring Hoa Xuande, Robert Downey Jr.
Premiere HBO
Year of issue 2024
Website IMDb
It’s 1975, and the fall of Saigon is just days away. The unnamed Captain serves in the local secret police and is the right-hand man of General Chong, who works with the red-haired, curly-haired CIA officer Claude. But no one around him even realizes that the Captain is a secret agent of the communist North.
From his handler and also one of Moon’s two best friends, he is instructed to travel with a fugitive general to the United States to continue his espionage activities there. Despite his reluctance to carry out this dubious mission, the Captain is forced to obey, which will not only lead to unpredictable consequences, but also radically change his life.
A new project from A24 studio and «Sympathizer», unlike the channel’s previous big satirical show «The Regime», the movie has received favorable reviews from critics. This verdict is fair in principle, as the film adaptation of the bestseller of the same name by Viet Thanh Nguyen offers a new, Vietnamese perspective on the bloody Vietnam War, which seems to have never happened in Hollywood before.
In addition to their deliberate but surprisingly harmonious multigenre, the series’ creators, including the director of the outstanding «Oldboy» Park Chan-wook, offer emotional swings and uneven narrative pacing. Where there is space for drama and reflection, we can be slipped an overt satire. And where you start to admire the form (editing techniques, angles, shot composition), you later feel the narrative’s flimsiness, which is not always good and may even discourage further viewing.
The most persistent and patient viewers will be rewarded with the goodies reserved for the middle and end of the season, but we still have to wait for them.
The show, however, begins quite fascinatingly. The authors introduce us to the characters as if they were placing pieces on a chessboard, and it looks interesting. But the debut episode is most impressive in its climax, when the Captain and his entourage are forced to flee their homeland on a plane to the United States organized by the CIA’s Claude (one of four impersonations of Robert Downey Jr.).
Then the unfortunate fugitives face a harsh reality that is far from the poster child for the American dream, and the viewer is faced with a leisurely narrative that makes them bored. By the third episode, there are more and more Robert Downey Jr. characters, but it doesn’t get any more interesting.
The satirical wheel swings most powerfully in one of the best episodes, the fourth, when the Captain joins the production of a Vietnam War-themed movie as a consultant. The film is directed by Nico Damianos — another character of the inimitable Downey Jr. and it brings to mind the parody «Tropic Thunder», and the storyline itself — about «Apocalypse Now», «The Deer Hunter» or «Platoon».
While the protagonist tries to sneak as many Vietnamese lines into the script as possible, Damianos stubbornly resists this, which means that no one in Hollywood, or in America in general, cares about their opinions. «The Sympathizer» makes a fierce mockery of this aspect, so now the voice of the suffering will be heard and the historical injustice — partially corrected. In addition, David Duchovny played an absolutely wonderful role here.
It’s no wonder that Americans look like a match for the Captain: conventional «genius, billionaire, philanthropist» and God knows who else looks like Robert Downey Jr. «Oscar» for his role in «Oppenheimer».
The plot has interesting and witty moments related to the Captain’s double game. His duality is manifested not only in this, but also in his internal contradictions. At some point, the hero no longer understands his identity. A Vietnamese with French blood in his veins, he is a supporter of the North who fulfills the tasks of a hostile general from the South. He personifies the bitter division of his country, the opposition of the mentality of the East and the West, the ideas of communism and capitalism.
The show itself evokes ambivalent feelings. On the one hand, it’s a solid story, framed in expressive formalist techniques and supported by good acting performances. But on the other hand, it is not able to keep your attention in one breath throughout, and this spoils the overall impression a bit.
In general, the series can be called paradoxical. It’s a spy thriller that is almost devoid of any distinct suspense. It is a satirical black comedy with almost no room for laughter. A war drama with literally no clashes on the battlefield
Obviously, this series is more about the United States than Vietnam, despite the fact that the narrative is told from the perspective of a Vietnamese character. How can one not recall Rammstein’s «We’re all living in America. Coca-Cola, sometimes war». The line from the 20-year-old hit by the cult Germans best describes what is literally happening on the screen.
Spelling error report
The following text will be sent to our editors: