Songs of the Vietnam immigrant Met once “Good Guys” with any of the Bond films of the era of George Moore – so the light appeared “Sympathizer” from HBO. The original novel, which received Pulitzer, is incredibly cinematic: a spy whirlwind between the Vietnamese north and south, brought by immigrants to the New World. The open-air American seventies here is a truly independent hero: costumes, locations, filters, fonts - the era received almost more attention than some characters. Where history stalls, a well-chosen cast helps, in which recognizable Hollywood names (Robert Downey Jr., Sandra O, David Duchovny) play the part of second and sometimes third violins, while little-known actors of Vietnamese origin come to the fore (the authenticity of the project is all right). Especially accurate hit in the title image of the sympathetic Captain was obtained by Hoa Xuande: he is so good faceless that absolutely seamlessly falls into the role of an invisible man who is simultaneously here and there, everywhere and nowhere. In any other situation, such a performance would be at best passable, but specifically for "The Compassionate," that's what the doctor ordered. Separate luck - Robert Downey Jr. in five different roles at once; it is a pretty visualization of the image of a multifaceted Western demon, luring unsuspecting victims with promises of consumerist paradise of freedom.
For all the obvious merits of the project, doubts in the end result creep in from the very first scene, in which Park Chang-uk, showrunner and director of the first three episodes, immediately reveals one of the novel's big plot twists. Over time, it becomes clear that the suspense of the source, where suspicions that the hero is not just talking about his life, mature gradually, he preferred dubious tricks with a literal rewinding of scenes and a completely unexpected intonation - mocking and sarcastic. Until the final episode, Park Chan-uk doesn’t sympathize with the drama unfolding on the screen – he ironizes over it. It spares the Vietnamese, neither from the north nor from the south: one ideology replaced the heart, the second exchanged common sense for empty dreams and self-pity; in full goes to the Americans who parasitize on someone else's tragedy. Crescendo sarcasm is the fourth episode, a sharp and very accurate satire on Hollywood films about the war in Vietnam in general and on “Apocalypse Now” in particular with the amazing output of David Duchovna in the image of a too-entered star. Series five through seven would be the perfect moment for a change of pace and mood, for a contrasting shower, reminding that on the heels of the comic inevitably follows the tragic. But no, amazingly, the series for another two hours pulls the already exhausted horse, losing all dynamics, so when in the final episode the tonality of the narrative makes a turn by one hundred and eighty degrees, it does not produce the desired effect. In the original source, there is also laughter, but it is laughter through tears; each of the characters mourns the lost country and self-identity in their own way: some are louder, some are quieter, some quickly assimilate with new values, others cling to the remnants of former illusions. The author of the novel Viet Thanh Nguyen created an entire immigrant symphony, while Park Chang-uk heard only one note and that false one.
5 out of 10