Unfortunately, the movie Sympathizer Episode 1 indeed distorts history.
Please look at just a few examples:
1- South Vietnamese Police force's uniform during the war. It was the white shirt with grey pants. In the film, the director changed it to a beige shirt and beige pants uniform.(In addition to regular Police force, the Republic of Vietnam also had a Field Police force with military-like camouflage uniform).
2- In the movie, the Police General rode a big motorbike to lead the evacuation bus through the streets of Saigon to Tan Son Nhut airport. According to the movie, this evacuation bus took place one day before the fall of Saigon, so it was April 29, 1975. But what kind of crazy general would do such a thing? Firstly, it would attract people's attention. Secondly, that day, undercover communist agents already emerged from hiding on the streets of Saigon. How could the General dare to be a target for their handguns? I believe that the author has a certain contempt to the generals of South Vietnamese government so he attempted to ridicule the Police General in his novel.
3- Also in the movie, the evacuation bus drove through deserted streets with uniform of South Vietnamese soldiers littered all over the streets. The reality is it was not until 11:30 AM of April 30, 1975, when President Duong Van Minh ordered the army of the Republic of Vietnam to surrender, then the soldiers took off their military uniform and laid down their rifles (some units even did not follow the order and fought to their deaths). But in the movie, this scene took place on April 29, 1975. This is distorting history and defaming the Republic of Vietnam army with the implication that they were cowards and had deserted one day before the President issued the surrender order.
4- Due to 21 years of division (1954-1975) with different political systems, North Vietnam and South Vietnam used many different words for the same things. But the movie let the South Vietnamese Captain speak the North Vietnamese terms. For example, for "bring the car", North Vietnamese say "Dieu xe" but South Vietnamese say "Mang xe/dem xe".
Movie directors in Vietnam are quite careful when making historical films. For example, when making a film about South Vietnam during the French colonial period, they invited the late veteran writer Son Nam to be a Cultural Advisor, to ensure images of houses, cars, clothes, language, etc. Be faithful to historical truth.
Writer Nguyen Viet Thanh was just a 4-year-old boy when Saigon fell so he knew nothing and remembered nothing. But when writing about Saigon in its last days before the fall, he failed to ask his parents or his senior community members to check if the details in his story match the reality. The person more to blame is film director Park Chan-wook. He didn't view thousands of photos and documentaries about South Vietnam during the war. He also did not use a senior Vietnamese Cultural/Historical Advisor who is easily available among Vietnamese American communities all over the U. S.
Please look at just a few examples:
1- South Vietnamese Police force's uniform during the war. It was the white shirt with grey pants. In the film, the director changed it to a beige shirt and beige pants uniform.(In addition to regular Police force, the Republic of Vietnam also had a Field Police force with military-like camouflage uniform).
2- In the movie, the Police General rode a big motorbike to lead the evacuation bus through the streets of Saigon to Tan Son Nhut airport. According to the movie, this evacuation bus took place one day before the fall of Saigon, so it was April 29, 1975. But what kind of crazy general would do such a thing? Firstly, it would attract people's attention. Secondly, that day, undercover communist agents already emerged from hiding on the streets of Saigon. How could the General dare to be a target for their handguns? I believe that the author has a certain contempt to the generals of South Vietnamese government so he attempted to ridicule the Police General in his novel.
3- Also in the movie, the evacuation bus drove through deserted streets with uniform of South Vietnamese soldiers littered all over the streets. The reality is it was not until 11:30 AM of April 30, 1975, when President Duong Van Minh ordered the army of the Republic of Vietnam to surrender, then the soldiers took off their military uniform and laid down their rifles (some units even did not follow the order and fought to their deaths). But in the movie, this scene took place on April 29, 1975. This is distorting history and defaming the Republic of Vietnam army with the implication that they were cowards and had deserted one day before the President issued the surrender order.
4- Due to 21 years of division (1954-1975) with different political systems, North Vietnam and South Vietnam used many different words for the same things. But the movie let the South Vietnamese Captain speak the North Vietnamese terms. For example, for "bring the car", North Vietnamese say "Dieu xe" but South Vietnamese say "Mang xe/dem xe".
Movie directors in Vietnam are quite careful when making historical films. For example, when making a film about South Vietnam during the French colonial period, they invited the late veteran writer Son Nam to be a Cultural Advisor, to ensure images of houses, cars, clothes, language, etc. Be faithful to historical truth.
Writer Nguyen Viet Thanh was just a 4-year-old boy when Saigon fell so he knew nothing and remembered nothing. But when writing about Saigon in its last days before the fall, he failed to ask his parents or his senior community members to check if the details in his story match the reality. The person more to blame is film director Park Chan-wook. He didn't view thousands of photos and documentaries about South Vietnam during the war. He also did not use a senior Vietnamese Cultural/Historical Advisor who is easily available among Vietnamese American communities all over the U. S.