The Vietnam War is simply a very well-rounded card in Western cinema, which we have seen in many parts – from dramas, through a Batalistic cinema, sensational to a comedy formula.
I'm not hiding that I've been taking quite a few time to this miniseries. However, the very beginning of the first episode has dispelled all doubts, and having learned that it is an adaptation of the book of Vietnamese author I besides reached for it and I am very moved!
Some of you have already met me as an enthusiast of popular culture, which I powerfully research in search of valuable positions for MP Readers. This time I went to the MAX platform (formerly HBO) due to the fact that they produced this series with the right momentum. "Sympathic" is an adaptation of a book with the same title by Viet Thanh Nguyenwho received the Pulitzer Prize in 2016. I haven't finished it yet, but I've already met adequate to say that there are somewhat different weights in it, it's more reporting, but the show is truly a large screening!
First of all, it is simply a conflict in Vietnam seen with the eyes of an perfect communist, a Vietnamese devoted Vietkong, who is simply a double agent – first in the south and then in Los Angeles. I was curious in this fact, due to the fact that I was convinced that the Americans would "smoke" it all in their favour. I truly love being so wrong! I think the top force of this production is that it presents us with both perspectives of this war, but the creators are neither Vietnamese nor Americans!
The main manager is simply a Korean Chan-wook Park, the creator of the cult “Trilogy of Revenge” – “Mr. Revenge”, “Oldboy” and “Mrs. Revenge”, which at 1 time contributed to the popularity of Asian cinema in the west. All 3 are very strong! The Korean was supported by the British Mark Munden (e.g. “Utopia” and “Kina’s Knowledge”) and Brazilian Fernando Meirelles (e.g. “The City of God” and “The Faithful Gardener”). Chan-wook Park assisted by a talented Canadian is besides liable for the script Don McKellar, the author of the script, among others, to “The City of Blind” and “The Crimes of the Future”. The script is simply a work Donald Graham Burt, who worked on “Girl with a Tattoo”, “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” and “Zodiac”.
I am writing all this to make you aware that the creators of this series are a truly serious team, and all the films mentioned above are very good and I highly urge them! The key to the communicative of the full communicative is the duality of the main character – a perfectly written and played character. The captain is half-Vietnam (after his mother), half-French (after his father). Raised by his parent in the north of Vietnam, educated in the United States. Finally, a double agent officially cooperating with the pro-American south, and ideologically and in fact devoted to the Vietnam. The captain is simply a truly fascinating and brilliantly written character he perfectly embodies. Hoa XuandeOh, my God!
We get to know him erstwhile he records his evidence in the reeducation camp – the communicative of a double agent, starting with an highly poignant scene, erstwhile as an assistant to a confederate general, in the presence of a CIA agent Claude is forced to watch a brutal interrogation of a captured Vietnamese woman. In this scene we have the core around which events will circulate. The viewer must get utilized to the fact that scenes are not served chronologically, alternatively built around characters. It's actually the only thing that bothered me at times in the show – I think the creators exaggerated it a small bit and it could have been neatly arranged.
Young captain – Communist, confederate general (in this function Toan Le) and CIA agent Claude played absolutely phenomenally by Robert Downey Jr.. appearing to us (as in “Oppennheimer”) as a master of work with strong characterization! These 3 characters are crucial to the storyline and it is between them that takes place the full intricate game. any critics did not like the courageous procedure of casting an American actor (also a maker of the series) in 4 roles – the CIA agent, professor, congressman and eccentric manager mentioned! I'm buying it, and Robert Downey Jr. is amazing to me! I truly had to look at a long time before I recognized an actor whose characters were heavy overdrawn and rubbing against kitsch.
In general, production constantly balances between a spy thriller and a black comedy, which is simply a complement to this dualism. The full series describes the end of the Vietnam conflict, so there are scenes that truly build tension and scare, for example dramatic evacuation from the airport. This event is preceded by an equally dramatic subject of designation of passengers among the most dedicated U.S. Vietnamese. The creators very skillfully balance between the horror of the situation (those who will most likely perish) and the comicism of any characters.
The general is simply a tragic hero – completely devoted to American ideology, looking into their culture, delighted with capitalism and a career model “from zero to hero”. His dream is to be American. Disgraced, despised by both his people and Americans, he tries to preserve the remains of officerly dignity, which is besides sad and comical.
Agent Claude – cynical and ruthless, and at the same time exaggerated, somewhat effeminate and thus funny. He plays the Vietnamese under him ruthlessly, making nothing of their fate. He has full contempt for their customs, their culture, and he doesn't care what happens to them after they decision to the United States.
All 4 characters played by Downey Jr. are a personification of the American view of the planet – the ostentatious sense of superiority virtually emanates from them. This is especially seen by a manager who already in Los Angeles hires a young Captain as a consultant for the Vietnam film. This full scene is simply a grotesque scene in Hollywood, and the director's character was reportedly modeled on Coppol. How it refers to a young Vietnamese man at a table accurately reflects the disposition of Americans. They treat the people of their own countries as savages. The full subject is besides a customs pin stuck in Hollywood, which in the early 1980s passed a real dump of Vietnam War movies. These were, of course, praises for “the courage of an American soldier.” Very interestingly this period describes Nick De Semlyen in the book "The Heroes of Last Action".
Finally, the above-mentioned young captain, who at times seems to have been torn between North and South. Between traditional, beautifully portrayed Vietnam, where he grew up and the expansive, capitalist United States, where he earned his education. As an perfect communist, he is devoted to Vietcong and to building a socialist society. He hates the U.S. and is devastated erstwhile command entrusts him with the task of spying on the general after being evacuated to Los Angeles. At the same time, being there already begins to delve into this world. She meets a much older Miss Sofia Mori (in this function large Sandra Oh), gets into an affair with her and allows her to enter into social life. He is constantly torn between the desire to live his life and the task entrusted to him.
The situation begins to get complicated erstwhile the ever-drunk general falls into a spy obsession without knowing that it is the Captain – his closest associate is the mole. He's ordering him to detect a spy, and for all of this he seems to be getting suspicious... It's truly a very cleverly run spy communicative with quite a few side threads that make up an breathtaking full closed in 7 episodes.
The series is besides a circumstantial analysis of the collapse of Vietnamese society, which aspirated America. Indeed, it is hard to blame a nation first tortured by the French and then divided between the communist north and the pro-American south. Interestingly, the communists here are portrayed as Vietnamese patriots, and the southerners as manipulated opportunists.
This is where the power comes from that the show wasn't created by Americans. It perfectly reflects the Asian climate with all the cultural wealth. I was profoundly touched by the phase that was inactive in Vietnam, just before the bombing. In a restaurant filled to the brim by confederate soldiers on phase there is simply a young girl who starts singing a folk song. erstwhile her soldiers interrupt her claiming to be doing a communist song, in her defence the Captain, whose song was very moved. This scene reflects the depth of despair of the situation in which Vietnamese society found itself – so divided so much that ready to jump to each other's throats about the substance as trivial as a folk song... It reminds us of something, doesn't it?
"Sympathic" is simply a series that theoretically tells a communicative very far distant from us, and in fact so similar. This teardrop of the main character is beautifully described by his mother. In 1 flashback, the distraught Captain, yet as a kid to whom peers have teased due to the fact that he is half-French, says to her, “I am not full Vietnamese!” and his parent says to him, “You are all double!” This conviction marks the further way of a young boy virtually and figuratively.
In summary, "Sympathic" is an excellent miniserial that has been snoring from the very beginning. The communicative is very well written, told, skillfully balanced between genres and emphasized artistic values specified as costumes, phase design, music, photos and phenomenal play of actors. I'm giving 8/10.
Bartosz Iwicki
photo. imdb.com
Think Poland, No. 27-28 (30.06-7.07.2024)
