Third time’s the charm, isn’t it? HBO’s glorious return to form after the disappointing fourth season of True Detective and an underwhelming The Regime, certainly provides an answer to the aforementioned question. The duality of the narrator, torn between discretion and compassion towards his ideology and country, as a spy and an immigrant drives the narrative of The Sympathizer.
Created by Park Chan-wook and Don McKellar and based on the Pulitzer-winning book by Viet Thanh Nguyen, the complexities of the various themes present in this book are never reduced to a mere message with ideological content. Instead, we are confronted throughout the show with the limitations of an individual caught up in an ideological net.
It’s a 7-episode-miniseries, the first three episodes of which are directed by the master Park Chan-wook. The writer of the book himself only trusted Director Park to make a meaningful adaptation of the book and there’s an objectivity with which Park highlights the Asian American Immigrant experience. The show is laden with thrill, suspense and dark humor. Park Chan-wook’s direction is fluid as always, with eyegasmic transition sequences, he packs a wealth of details in the shortest reasonable time span.
The visual aesthetics of the show provide a much needed immersion into the atmosphere and the time period this show is set in. It feels good to have a show that avoids “looking” generic. The very memorable score by Cho Young-Wuk perfectly sets the tone of the show, the soundtrack comprises of many Vietnamese tracks itself.
Even though I wished this entire show to be a singular vision Park Chan-wook directorial, I am not disappointed by the way the follow-up directors did their job. Fernando Meirelles—who is simply having the time of his life between directing this and Apple’s Sugar—directs episode 4 with his signature partial blocking, imparting an energetic dynamic and an impressive change of tone after an intense episode 3.
Episode 4 in itself is one of the standout episodes of the show, with numerous guest appearances, as well as a series-best performance from RDJ as an auteur directing a film about the Vietnam War. The episode showcases the loosely worn straitjacket of the hypocrisy of Hollywood in the way the Vietnam War is depicted in the American movies of the past.
The show has a wide range of talented cast members. While the show is heavily marketed with Robert Downey Jr in mind to bring in the numbers, the real star of this show is Hoa Xuande. It was director Park’s idea for RDJ to play multiple white characters to represent the face of imperialism. With varying levels of success, RDJ plays Claude (CIA Agent), Professor Robert Hammer, Ned Godwin (Congressman) and Niko Damianos (Film Director, and the best RDJ avatar in the show) as well as a fifth role in the final episode.
The basic idea of such a casting is to capture the sentiments in the following line of the book:
“The most dangerous creature in the world is a white man in the suit.”
I am very excited for the opportunities that lie ahead for Hoa Xuande. His performance in this show is that of a bonafide movie star. His face is a perfect vessel to reflect the many contradictions and duality of his character, at once he looks so innocent yet rebellious, foolish yet smart, trustworthy yet someone who could stab you in the chest with a smile. Hoa better be getting those casting calls.
The rest of the cast which comprises of Toan Le, Sandra Oh, Fred Nguyen Khan, Duy Nguyen and Vy Le are all great in their respective roles.
At its core, The Sympathizer is a show about the act of writing, by showcasing how important the act of writing is. By letting The Captain (Hoa Xuande) confront his fears, showcasing an inevitable clash of The Captain’s social role and his subconscious feelings, aspirations and ideals; he deals with the clash of his ideology amidst his journey of search for an identity, the show encourages the viewers to think beyond the binary, to be able to have a conversation between the living without ideological interference.
The Sympathizer was created by Park Chan-wook and Don McKellar and stars Hoa Xuande as The Captain, Robert Downey Jr as several characters, and more! It is based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel of the same name, authored by Viet Thanh Nguyen. The series is now streaming in full on Max.
Thanks for reading this review. For more, please feel free to check out some of our other works at Feature First.
