2024-04-18 15:00:40
Another spy film, the HBO series ‘Sympathizer’
“It’s like a spy movie director planning an operation.”
Based on the novel of the same name by Viet Thanh Nguyen
A story about a Vietnamese spy set in the 1970s.
“I try to show irony, paradox, and absurdity.”
“Rodaju’s 4 stations symbolize the face of America.”
“Watch it to feel the cliffhanger typical of TV dramas.”
It is well known that director Park Chan-wook (61) is a spy novel enthusiast. Director Park has previously revealed several times in various interviews that he has read all kinds of spy genre literature, and that he is particularly fascinated by the works of British author John le Carré. Director Park’s love for spies was revealed in his first series, ‘The Little Drummer Girl’ (2018). This series was based on the novel of the same name by Le Carre published in 1983.
◇Park Chan-wook returns to the spy series
Director Park released his second series in six years on the 15th. This is the HBO original series ‘The Sympathizer.’ Director Park once again chose an adaptation of a spy novel. The original work is a novel of the same name published in 2015 by Vietnamese-American author Viet Thanh Nguyen. Although author Nguyen is not well known in Korea, this work was recognized for its high level of perfection, winning the Pulitzer Prize the year after its publication. Set in the 1970s, it tells the story of ‘Captain’, a South Vietnamese special agent and a spy planted by North Vietnam, while simultaneously working for the U.S. CIA.
Director Park, who attended the ‘Sympathizer’ press conference in Korea on the afternoon of the 18th, recalled the time when he was immersed in Le Carré’s work and said, “I think being deeply immersed in spy films and becoming a film director are probably connected.” He was saying that what a spy does and what a movie director does are probably not that different.
◇“Spies and movie directors are similar”
“In Le Carré’s novels, there is a spy master named ‘Smiley.’ A person who makes plans. What he does is similar to what a movie director does. A spy master is someone who creates a big lie and makes you believe it. The same goes for film directors like me who both produce and write. He comes up with a budget, and puts together a team to execute that budget. This means casting an actor who will come to the fore and deceive the other party, that is, a spy. And every little detail is designed to make it all look real. In the end, my tendency to become a film director and my tendency to like spy novels are not different.”
Prior to the meeting, episodes 1 and 2 of ‘Sympathizer’ were released. There are a total of 7 parts, but even if you watch only the second episode, you can see that irony, paradox, and absurdity, which are keywords that run through the world of Director Park’s work, are underlying this series. Director Park is also said to have constantly emphasized this to the production crew and actors. He said, “Irony, paradox, and absurdity must be kept in mind. This is not just a drama, it is not a work that is everything it seems on the outside. “I said you should always think about the opposite of what you see on the outside.”
◇Irony, paradox, absurdity
The main character, ‘Captain’, is a person who symbolizes the three keywords mentioned by Director Park. To borrow an expression from the play, he is a ‘mongrel’, born to a French and Vietnamese father. He does not belong to either North Vietnam or South Vietnam, and he is not an American either. So this work begins with these lines: “I am a spy, a fixed spy, an espionage agent, a man with two faces. “I’m cursed to see both sides of everything.” Director Park said, “The ability to see two perspectives at the same time can be said to be a blessing, but on the contrary, it can be seen as a curse.” “There is an advantage to having a comprehensive perspective, but it can also be easy to be divided. Because you can’t be on either side. “What should we do when this side and that side are in extreme conflict? This issue can become a curse.”
‘Sympathizer’ is a work that talks about the character Captain, but is also a work that looks back on the Vietnam War. It also contains the stories of the United States entering the Vietnam War and the scars left by its intervention, Vietnamese refugees who left for the United States due to the 15-year-long Vietnam War, and people who grew up as Vietnamese-Americans and developed a dual identity. Director Park said that he is neither Vietnamese nor American, but that is why he has a perspective that allows him to look at this issue with a sense of distance and objectivity.
“I don’t think you need qualifications to talk about the history of other countries. I don’t know everything about both countries, but I don’t know much either. Our country also has a similar history to Vietnam, so we also have a sense of solidarity. The Captain admires American pop culture, and he understands that feeling to some extent. “I thought I could create this work with my own objectivity, respect, and cinematic expression.”
◇“Rodaju’s 4-person role is the face of America.”
This work mainly features Vietnamese actors, including Vietnamese-Australian actor Hoa Xuande, who plays the main character Captain. The one that stands out among them is definitely Iron Man Robert Downey Jr. In ‘Sympathy’, he plays four different roles, each portraying different characters in different colors. Director Park said, “When I asked who was the white middle-aged male actor who could play this role, not many people came to mind, and the production team all thought of Downey Jr.” “Downey Jr. is such a superstar, and he has never appeared in a series, so he didn’t have high expectations. Still, he didn’t want to regret it later, so he made an offer. Fortunately, he received a call saying he would do it right away.”
Downey Jr. plays a CIA agent, professor, film director, and congressman. Regarding assigning him four roles, Director Park said, “I thought these characters were ultimately the face of America, and ultimately one being,” and “I wanted to make the audience understand this context at once.” “I thought for a while about whether I would be treated like a crazy person by my colleagues if I brought up this story, and then I brought up my idea. But he actually liked it.”
◇“Please enjoy it while waiting for the next episode.”
Director Park participated as a co-showrunner on this work with Canadian producer Don McKellar of ‘The Sympathizer’ and also wrote the screenplay with McKellar. However, he only directed episodes 1 to 3. In the United States, when making a series, it is common to appoint a showrunner to act as general conductor and have different directors and writers take charge of each episode. Director Park said, “I wanted to direct every episode, but I had physical limitations, and there was also the burden of having to continuously write and revise the script while filming.” At the same time, he explained, “We continued to discuss maintaining the same directing method except for episode 4, and because we did the post-production ourselves, we were able to create the same tone created by one director.”
Director Park said that he likes the cliffhanger characteristic of TV dramas, which moves from the most climactic moment to the next episode, and asked people to savor and enjoy the work with the same curiosity about the next episode. “Some people call cliffhangers cheap tricks, but I like them. TV dramas are watched for their taste. Of course, this is a story from another country. However, it is a story that Korean viewers will also feel a lot about.” ‘Sympathizer’ is released once every Monday afternoon on Coupang Play.
[서울=뉴시스]
2024-04-18 15:00:40