Tune In Or Tune Out: ‘The Sympathizer’ Breathes Fresh Air Into A Bloated War Genre
Since the fall of Saigon in 1975, U.S. media has reframed the Vietnam War in one of two ways. One, the story of a group of soldiers forced to endure the savage militarism of the Viet Cong in the name of freedom. And two, soldiers becoming conscious of their status as fungible objects in the United States’ imperialist structure. The United States has come to collectively understand our embarrassing involvement in Vietnam over the years, but decades of McCarthyism continues to scrutinize the plight of Vietnamese communities as communist vindication. HBO’s The Sympathizer does more than showcase the pitfalls of American exceptionalism; it centers the conversation on the Vietnamese community with the visionary direction of Park Chan-wook’s signature auteurism.
Based on Viet Thanh Nguyen’s Pulitzer Prize winning novel of the same name, the series is told as a written confession by our unnamed protagonist, who simply goes by The Captain (Hoa Xuande). Years after the war, he’s held captive in a Vietnamese reeducation camp and forced to recount his experience working under an aloof South Vietnamese General (Toan Le). However, he is a devout communist and working as a double agent in 1970s Los Angeles. Created by Korean director Park and Canadian filmmaker Don McKellar, The Sympathizer revels in a classic ‘70s sleazy exploitation pastiche, with a substantive blend of bleak satire and human compassion. The Vietnamese community is largely absent from discussions surrounding the Vietnam War, but The Sympathizer beautifully captures a community torn between idealistic American hegemony and social ostracization.
Meet The Captain
The Captain begins his story with doubt. He is unsure about the specifics of The Fall of Saigon as he constantly rewinds the story like an old VHS cassette. In fact, he is unsure of who he is; his mother is Vietnamese, his father European, but he lives in a constant state of disarray. He is torn between his admiration of American culture and a desire for a united Vietnam under communist rule. He is too “Oriental” for America and simultaneously not native enough for his community. As a result, the series’ POV is unreliable and entirely skewed by The Captain’s idiosyncrasies and insecurities. The surreal cinematic language of the series plays with perspective, time, and characters in a refreshing but sometimes confusing way. As a result, it’s unclear how much of the narrative is accurate. It loves to jump around between past and future events without any indicators of where we are, which becomes difficult to navigate when looking at Robert Downey Jr.’s assortment of characters.
Downey plays a brash CIA agent, a wild auteur filmmaker, a congressman, and The Captain’s old university professor. He transitions between characters without warning — sometimes in the same episode — and while it takes some time to get used to, these characters collectively create a unified American identity based on Asian-fetishization, colonialism, and exploitation. Through war and cultural appropriation, we see Downey’s characters abuse Vietnam and its culture, treating it as a platform for influence, whether through fame, political power, or American imperialism. However, this is only revealed if you read between the lines. Conceptually, it’s a brilliant portrayal of American individualism that tastefully conveys what other Vietnam-centered stories don’t. However, if you aren’t actively looking for this, you might be left in a haze of confusion and vexation.
Was It Tune In Or Tune Out?
The Sympathizer leaves no room to meander. Park swamps every shot with exposition by carefully mapping out every visual cue, entrance, blocking, and camera movement. It’s perfectly offbeat and knows when to pull back when scenes delve into Vietnamese trauma and the hardships of assimilation. It’s difficult to imagine anyone other than Xuande pulling off such a wide array of conflicting emotions. Xuande is a master of subtlety, painfully hiding his sympathy with the twitch of an eyebrow and a single, stifled tear. Downey plays each character with comical excellence, with his erratic hair and costuming upstaging Xuande through most of each episode. The series is littered with ‘70s pop culture nostalgia, perfectly interwoven with a beautiful score and vibrant visual eye candy. The series occasionally gets lost in its own quirkiness. Nonetheless, it is a thrilling spy drama that boldly represents the Vietnamese community and their struggles after the war.
The Sympathizer carves an identity beyond a simple adaptation, creating a sincere retrospective into the Vietnamese American diaspora. A distinct conviction unifies every scene involving the Vietnamese community, with enough passion to thwart all American hubris. In a society driven by a fear of newness, the ‘70s makes for an aesthetic deep dive into the early division within the Vietnamese community. They are polarized — within American society and themselves — by a lack of cohesive identity that taunts our protagonist at every turn. The Sympathizer’s blend of satire and drama is right up Max’s dark satirical lineup, yet it takes the opportunity to sculpt a new perspective in a sea of American-centered Vietnam War stories.
Who Will Like It?
The Sympathizer is easy to fall in love with. On top of its amazing visuals and outstanding cast, the series tells a compassionate story about a nation divided by the self-interest of American exceptionalism. American media rarely shows the victims of its ruthless wars, yet Park and McKellar paint a haunting portrait of the Vietnamese struggle, full of surreal imagery, delightful performances, and important representation. Spy thriller aficionados may find The Sympathizer sluggish and unengaging due to its unique presentation and minimal action. However, it’s an engaging story full of imaginative imagery that showcases the real damage caused by the Vietnam War. The Sympathizer releases every Sunday and can be streamed on Max.