LakshmiAdapted from the Pulitzer prize-winning novel by Vietnamese-American author and professor Viet Thanh Nguyen’s ‘The Sympathizer’, the story depicts the journey of a North Vietnamese mole in the South Vietnamese army who remains a part of the South Vietnamese population living in exile in America.
Directed in part by the acclaimed South Korean filmmaker Park Chan-Wook (‘The Handmaiden’, ‘Decision to Leave’), the series portrays a satirical perspective of the Vietnamese war, depicting the fall of Saigon to kickstart the tale, with the protagonist becoming an expatriate and cultural advisor after immigrating to America and then returning to Vietnam as part of a guerrilla raid against the communists.
After fleeing to the United States, while sharing quarters with South Vietnamese refugees, he frequently provides updates to the Viet Cong, struggling to find a balance between his former original loyalties and his new life.
Setting expectations too high with the old-school 1970s-themed opening credits, the constant flashbacks and frequent rewinding fail to meet the promised dark conceit bar. The protagonist, the Captain (Hoa Xuande), is a secret police officer who is half French and half Vietnamese working covertly for the North Vietnamese against the government supported by the United States. The Captain’s heritage and dual existence, together with his relationships with his two best friends (Fred Nguyen Khan and Duy Nguyen), are representative of a man pulled in two distinct directions. The way it’s written, it’s a rather crude estimation of what happened to Vietnam during the war, which doesn’t make the Captain’s increasingly bizarre storyline any more interesting.
When the show was announced, one actor made the headlines- Robert Downey Jr., the most recent Oscar winner. Playing a plethora of roles in the miniseries, Downey takes on the professor who specialized in Orientalist studies and trained the Captain as a college student in Los Angeles; the Congressman who uses South Vietnamese refugees as a political base in Southern California; and the unconventional filmmaker who hires the Captain as a consultant for his big-budget film. This strategy harnesses Downey’s star power while also dispersing it.
Grey’s Anatomy alum Sandra Oh also plays a short supporting role in the show while the Captain strikes up an affair with this American-Japanese woman.
The show is an alright watch with its attempted radical dark satire. You need to pay attention to the scenes, but whenever the episodes overrun, it becomes a bit boring to follow. The ever-changing roles of Downey seem a bit unnecessary. It’s unlikely you would root for the captain, but by the end, you will begin to understand his instilled idealism. The first episode is not great in the beginning but culminates with an incredible ending sequence, that paves the way to watch the next few episodes.
The first episode of “The Sympathizer” premieres on HBO and Max on April 14 at 9 p.m. ET, with the remaining episodes airing weekly on Sundays.
Lakshmi
