Adapted from the 2015 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel of the same name by Viet Thanh Nguyen, The Sympathizer is a new HBO original miniseries, co-produced by A24, from creators/showrunners Park Chan-wook and Don McKellar. South Korean filmmaker Park Chan-wook, known for highly treasured films like Oldboy, The Handmaiden, and Decision to Leave, sets this limited series up as the next great addition to HBO’s unmatched television legacy. The story centers around an unnamed protagonist (Hoa Xuande) through the final days of the Vietnam War and its aftermath as a North Vietnamese double agent operating as a Captain in the South Vietnamese secret police.
Labeled as part espionage thriller and part cross-culture satire, The Sympathizer touches on a myriad of themes ranging from elucidating the cost of war, critiquing the American establishment and its romanticism of the Vietnam War, and interrogating race in the West. The tone is pitch-perfect and never strays too far — never losing its more serious elements or having its dark humor come off as inappropriate. The plot itself is comprehensive but is not told linearly, taking liberties in shifting back and forth along the timeline to best suit each of the 7 episodes in this season. Many episodes feel like complete stories within themselves as well as serving the broader narrative, compelling the audiences to tune in week after week.
One episode in particular focuses on the Captain’s experience working as a cultural consultant on a Hollywood film about the Vietnam War. This episode stands out because it directly interfaces with multiple of the show’s themes, specifically how Asian people are seen and represented in the West. Being told through the television format almost makes The Sympathizer metacontextual — as if the series is aware of itself within a larger genre. Like most angles this show has to offer, it does not come down with totalitarian finality on one side or the other. Instead, it scrutinizes Hollywood’s American biases despite its often nuanced intentions. Such a perspective is not often explored in Western media, and so The Sympathizer acts as a counterbalance against the overrepresentation of the other side.
The Captain isn’t the only one wearing two faces, most characters have a duality to them in The Sympathizer. As the Captain, Hoa Xuande (Netflix’sCowboy Bebop) shoulders the dramatic stakes well, perfectly oscillating between heartbreaking and charming as the story and its many tones require him to do so. The Captain’s relationship with his two childhood best friends, Bon (Fred Nguyen Khan) and Man (Duy Nguyễn), who each fall on different sides of the Vietnam War, is especially tragic to see unfold. Meanwhile, Sandra Oh (Killing Eve) as Ms. Sofia Mori, the Captain’s Japanese-American colleague at Occidental College in the United States, effortlessly embodies a cynic with a softer side. She makes a fascinating romantic interest for the Captain, one that carries her own nuances in the overarching narrative.The Captain isn’t the only one wearing two faces, most characters have a duality to them in The Sympathizer. As the Captain, Hoa Xuande (Netflix’sCowboy Bebop) shoulders the dramatic stakes well, perfectly oscillating between heartbreaking and charming as the story and its many tones require him to do so. The Captain’s relationship with his two childhood best friends, Bon (Fred Nguyen Khan) and Man (Duy Nguyễn), who each fall on different sides of the Vietnam War, is especially tragic to see unfold. Meanwhile, Sandra Oh (Killing Eve) as Ms. Sofia Mori, the Captain’s Japanese-American colleague at Occidental College in the United States, effortlessly embodies a cynic with a softer side. She makes a fascinating romantic interest for the Captain, one that carries her own nuances in the overarching narrative.
Recent Oscar-winner Robert Downey Jr. (Oppenheimer) plays not one character but four in The Sympathizer. Downey Jr. portrays the CIA agent Claude, who at first acts as a mentor to the Captain, an “auteur filmmaker” named Niko who’s making the aforementioned Hollywood movie about the Vietnam War, the Captain’s Orientalist grad school instructor, Professor Hammer, and the anti-communist, right-wing Republican Congressman Ned Godwin, who was nicknamed “Napalm Ned” as he fought alongside the South Vietnam Army. The subplot with Godwin, specifically, sees him trying to appeal to the local Vietnamese American community in Southern California with a glossy political campaign. Each of the actor’s roles represents a different facet of the American establishment and how they interact with one another. Each of Downey Jr.’s performances is also exaggerated — perhaps a choice to bolster the series’ satirical tone — but the ostentatious styling and acting choices can be distracting, depending on the role and scene. Nonetheless, the multiple castings still symbolically serve the story well.
While the strengths of The Sympathizer are its writing and performances, the confident and sharp direction should not be overlooked. The editing does not skip a beat and seamlessly weaves together the multiple timelines and narrative symbols. It’s both heartbreaking and hopeful, told through the unifying perspective of loss before any other side in the political conflict.
The Sympathizer captures a complicated immigrant experience, the unrelenting love for a land despite the politics that separate one from it, and how those politics can seem so paltry against the cost of upholding them. And, of course, America’s involvement in all of it. This HBO original miniseries adaptation deserves your time. If not for its valuable and nuanced perspective, then for its excellent execution as a black comedy drama.
The Sympathizer premieres April 14 on HBO and Max!
Created by Park Chan-wook & Don McKellar.
Based on The Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Nguyen.
Directed by Park Chan-wook, Fernando Meirelles, & Marc Munden.
Written by Mark Richard, Naomi Iizuka, Maegan Houang, Anchuli Felicia King, and Tea Ho.
Executive Produced by Park Chan-wook, Don McKellar, Robert Downey Jr., Susan Downey, Amanda Burrell, Niv Fichman, Kim Ly, Ron Schmidt, Viet Thanh Nguyen, & Jisun Beck.
Main Cast: Hoa Xuande, Fred Nguyen Khan, Toan Le, Duy Nguyễn, Vy Le, Kieu Chinh, Alan Trong, Kayli Tran, VyVy Nguyen, Ky Duyen, Scott Ly, Marine Delterme, Sandra Oh, & Robert Downey Jr.
Production Companies: A24, Team Downey, Rhombus Media, Cinetic Media, & Moho Film.
Episode Count: 7.
