The book I was going to read over the weekend was on the side for a while, and I

The book I was going to read over the weekend was on the side for a while, and I binge-watched "My Companion" Season 1. The protagonist, who is an undercover South Vietnamese cop but is actually a North Vietnamese spy, tries to prove his revolutionary work by going back and forth between the present and the past through his own handwriting, which he started to write at a concentration camp in his homeland, which was liberated after twists and turns. The protagonist is duplicitous in every aspect. Born to a Vietnamese mother and a French father, he was different in appearance and discriminated against in his homeland, but he is also differentiated as an Asian in the United States. The Vietnamese general and an American CIA agent, who have been following him since his days as an undercover police officer in South Vietnam, are still trying to manipulate him in the United States. He tries to use our protagonist endlessly with a delusion that he will return to his homeland and regain his country after failing to admit defeat in Vietnam. He doesn't even think of him as a true Vietnamese, but he tries to take advantage of our protagonist

Personally, I am interested in Vietnamese history because I think the history of Vietnam, especially after modern times, is very similar to ours. Especially, the Korean military's slaughter of civilians during the Vietnam War and the progress of the Vietnam War itself are also major concerns, so I bought and watched Vietnam-related war history, essays, and novels directly. I bought the original novel several years ago and watched it roughly, but I wanted to read it again while watching the drama. (So I took it out for now.)

In any case, director Park Chan-wook, who turned the novel into a seven-part drama, is truly remarkable. He is especially good at describing the growth process and psychology of the protagonist, moving back and forth skillfully from the present to the past. He was one of the most famous JSA films, "Vengeance is mine, Old Boy" and even a sympathetic character.

Make sure to watch it on Coupang Play.

~ There is a drama in which Park Chan-wook poured his thoughts, artistic spirit, and all of his thoughts into it. It is a seven-part drama titled "My Companion," which was unveiled on Coupang Play. While it became a hot topic overseas through HBO, it did not receive much attention in Korea. The drama might have felt a bit difficult to discuss about "ghost-like beings wandering two worlds."

The sympathizer is the story of a spy who has lost his identity, and is a work that asks a philosophical question when he says, 'There is nothing more important than the independence and freedom of the motherland.' In the previous sentence, the most important thing is to ask the pre-question and answer, which is neither the motherland nor independence nor freedom, but 'nothing' is the most important thing. These dramas are not of the kind that will be popular right now. It is an intellectual artwork that will be mentioned in the next 30, 50, or 100 years.

The drama is based on an affidavit from the protagonist, Captain Hoa Suande. After being imprisoned in solitary confinement for one year in a communist Vietnam concentration camp, Park's work is verified by constantly writing, rewriting, and rewriting his past deeds. Park Chan-wook's production dismantles and attaches it, but often returns the main character's memory to a flashback and plays it. (Strictly speaking, the third part is directed by Park Chan-wook, the fourth part by Fernando Meirelles, and the fifth part by Mark Munden. Park wrote the entire scenario and took the role of the director. This is called "Show Runner.")

This type of complex scenario composition and writing is more difficult and difficult than writing the original novel. Perhaps it would have been better to write a novel. For example, Chapter 3, from pages 66 to 90 of the original novel "Co-worker", describes the process of escaping from Vietnam after the fall of Saigon by the captain's party, and the family and secret police of the general (Toan Le). They have to leave on a transport plane C-180 provided by the U.S. military, when the North Vietnamese regular army's bombing occurs. When you are reading a novel, a lot of images come and disappear in your head, which is a completely different process to lead to a few sequences and gods. The scene of escaping Saigon in episode 1 is the overwhelming scene throughout the entire drama. It can be seen that Park Chan-wook's movie design ability and IQ were at their peak.