“The Sympathizer” on MAX: Robert Downey Jr. does not steal the show in a great premiere episode | REVIEW | REVIEW | SUMMARY | CRITICISM | STREAMING | VIETNAM | SKIP-ENTER

The expectation around any project in which Robert Downey Jr. getting involved was one before his Oscar win and another after he lifted the statuette on March 10 at the Dolby Theater in Hollywood, California.

Precisely between the nomination and the award, it became known about the imminent premiere of “The sympathizer”, the television adaptation that HBO Max (today only MAX) prepared of the novel with which the writer Viet Thanh Nguyen won the Pulitzer in 2016.

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The speed with which books are turned into movies and series today seems uncontrollable. Judging whether the result of each project is good will depend not only on how powerful the story or the theme it hides, but sometimes, fundamentally, on the cast behind it.

The latter could well be covered in “The sympathizer”, which has the award-winning Robert Downey Jr. as one of the main actors, as well as an executive producer.

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The first of the seven episodes of this series, released last Sunday worldwide, has served to see in general terms what Don McKellar and Park Chan-wook (co-creators of the project) want to capture on the screen: the story of an event that for many marks the way they view American foreign policy to this day.

“All wars are fought twice. The first time on the battlefield and the second in memory,” says a voice at the beginning of “The Sympathizer.” Seconds before we saw a kind of executive summary in which the two parties involved in what for the United States was “the Vietnam War” are presented, although for the Vietnamese it was “the US War.”

As it seems it will be throughout the remaining six episodes, “The sympathizer” is largely narrated by the voice of the ‘Captain’ (played by Australian actor with Vietnamese roots Hoa Xuande). He serves for the southern side, specifically for a very powerful general of the Secret Police, benefiting, of course, from American support.

The Captain lives between the General’s house, where he prepares his clothes and teaches English to his teenage daughter; and the command, where he assists him with various tasks.

But the Captain is undercover.

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As the title of the Max series says, our protagonist is a ‘sympathizer’ of the communist forces that seek to take power, in turn expelling the American power.

This television adaptation takes place in different historical moments of the second half of the 20th century. In the initial episode, there are multiple time jumps, but the central thing occurs in what we could say is the end of April 1975, when Saigon – the capital of South Vietnam – saw its fall as imminent. And, of course, many were getting ready to flee for their lives.

Throughout the almost hour-long duration of this chapter, the story is divided into three narrative lines. The first displays a fairly accurate description of the main characters. The Captain with a ‘broken heart’ because, although aware that the side he really sympathizes with is about to ‘win’, he has been forced to travel with the future ‘losers’ to the US. “The house is overrated” , his friend and communist activist Man (Duy Nguyen) tells him when he asks him to stay to see the future of his land.

A second key character would be the General (Toan Le), a guy who, although described as sinister and feared, in these first 60 minutes barely stands out for his ability to pack his things and quickly drive the motorcycle towards the air base from where he thinks. flee from the imminent defeat against the neighbors to the north.

The third key character in this first episode of “The Sympathizer” is Robert Downey Jr. The Oscar winner plays Claude, a skilled CIA agent who moves ‘like Pedro around his house’ in Saigon. He does it by handing out instructions, making arrangements and educating the one who clearly seems to be his ‘disciple’: the Captain (“He was the key figure who taught me the customs of the United States. She offered me education and the latest pop culture“).

Precisely, both appear alongside the General in one of the first scenes of “Suicidal Impulse”, as episode 1 is titled. The aging American intelligence agent takes the Captain to what appears to be an old, although popular movie theater. Inside, the movie that the marquee offered is not being broadcast, but in reality a ‘collaborator’ of the communists is being tortured. The same one that the Captain had ordered to arrest a few hours ago.

And who he clearly seems to know.

With the General next to them, the three central characters observe how the young woman is tortured. She stares at the Captain, and he, sitting in his chair, sheds some tears while he takes a few drags on his cigarette, although no one sees him. Everyone really seems to be unaware of it.

The story created by Don McKellar and Park Chan-wook, at least for its first episode, can be seen from different angles. It is a unique story about an event that marked American foreign policy in the second half of the 20th century. The Vietnam War, according to figures collected by BBC Mundo, had a very high cost in human lives for the communist side (almost one million). The South Vietnamese side lost almost 300 thousand soldiers. United States just over 59 thousand.

If the US contributed a fortune in logistics and weapons (US$120 billion between 1965 and 1973), in addition to thousands of recruits in considerably better physical condition than the ‘enemy’, “how then could a defeat occur?” the British media reasonably asks.

Maybe “The sympathizer” does not delve into statistics, strategies or even academic foundations to tell us in depth the story of a war that marked the contemporary world. But he wouldn’t have to do it either. What this MAX series does seem to show us is the very unique story of a man who, at key moments in his life, faced the dilemma of serving opposing sides.