Robert Downey Jr. invites us into Park Chan-wook's world of espionage (trailer)

The Sympathizer or the story of Vietnamese communism told by the master of the Korean thriller.

“Welcome to the world of espionage”introduces the character of Robert Downey Jr.. Or, in any case, as we learned in the first trailer, one of the multiple faces that the actor ofOppenheimer camps in the mini-series that Park Chan-wook concocted for HBO and A24. Adapted from the novel of the same name by Viet Thanh NguyenPullitzer 2016, this thriller in seven episodes will follow the adventures of “Captain” (Hoa Xuande), ancient “French-Vietnamese communist spy exiled in Los Angeles at the end of the Vietnam War, forced to return to service”.

If the first images introduced the fracture of identity as one of the main subjects of the mini-series, this new trailer multiplies the visual and storyline contrasts. Glitter, alcohol and disco balls oppose the severity of the Vietnamese communist regime, forcing the brutal descent of the main character whose identity fault lines are placed in the gigantic perspective of History with a capital H. All at the frantic pace of the style and eloquence of the Korean director to whom we owe in particular Old Boy.

After Decision to LeaveBest Director Award at the Cannes Film Festival in 2022, and Misspresented on the Croisette in official competition six years earlier, the master of the Korean thriller made a sensational return to the small screen, which he had already explored with The Little Drummer Girl for the BBC in 2018.

To do this, he surrounded himself with a five-star cast. Freewheeling, Robert Downey Jr quickly forgot the slicked back hair and the sharp suit of the character which earned him his Oscar for best actor in a supporting role a few weeks ago. His performance contrasts with that, more sober, of Hoa Xuande, around whom a whole bunch of colorful comrades gravitate, supported, among others, by Sandra Oh, Fred Nguyen Khan, Toan Le, Ky Duyenbut also our national Alice Nevers, Marine Delterme.

The Sympathizer will be released on April 14 on Max in the United States, and will be available in France the next day via the Warner Pass on Prime Video.

Robert Downey Jr spectacular in new trailer for The Sympathizer for HBO