Park Chan-wook, novelist Viet Thanh Nguyen, and star Hoa Xuande discuss the premiere episode’s harrowing climax.
Warning: This article contains spoilers forThe Sympathizerepisode 1, “Death Wish.”
The Sympathizerbegins at the end of the Vietnam War.
Hoa Xuande in ‘The Sympathizer’.Hopper Stone/HBO
I was actually there for the fall of Saigon.
But I was four years old, so I don’t remember anything, Nguyen tellsEntertainment Weekly.
I had to recreate it.
Hoa Xuande, Duy Nguyen, Fred Nguyen Khan in ‘The Sympathizer’.Hopper Stone/HBO
But its an important moment in world history, and in many peoples lives.
The Captain is a communist spy embedded with South Vietnamese forces.
What should be a euphoric victory for the protagonist thus becomes a horrific nightmare.
Is he really being rewarded for the liberation of his country with the loss of his godson?
Is this the sacrifice that you have to pay for freedom?
Is that worth the price?
Those questions permeate the rest of the Captains journey.
New episodes ofThe Sympathizerair Sundays on HBO and Max.
