The directors who gave Robert Downey Jr a crash course in cinema: “Took you to task”
For those that are familiar with the work of Park Chan-wook, you may need intense consolation or therapy after spending time in his brutalist and dizzying world. Whether it be the disturbing pursuit of revenge and a new kind of familial love in Oldboy or the doomed romance of The Handmaiden, the work of Chan-Wook is considered by many to be a masterclass in visual storytelling, with rich and multi-layered images that can be interpreted in a myriad of ways, allowing us to peel back news layers of meaning within each frame.
And after recently working with him on the 2024 thriller series Sympathiser, Robert Downey Jr is also singing his praises, and his biggest learnings from working with the genius director.
Sympathiser, starring Hoa Xuande and Robert Downey Jr, takes place at the end of the Vietnam War and tells the story of a spy who flees to the United States and lives within a refugee community, continuing to gather information and reports back to the Viet Cong. It is very much reminiscent of the Chan-wook style, with a dark twist on a historical story and many intertwining plot lines.
The lead actor Xuande has spoken about how powerful it was to star in a project that shows the story from a Vietnamese perspective and how transformative it was to work with Chan-wook, saying, “When I stepped onto set for the first time and really got into it, I was doubting that I could carry this, that I could make the right decisions to tell this story. But in subsequent conversations that I’ve had with Director Park, he instills confidence but he doesn’t let you off the hook. He believes in you, and he expects a high level of performance and work ethic”.
When Downey Jr discussed his experiences of working with the director, he also highlighted how easy it is to become swept up in his cinematic world and his knowledge of the medium, explaining, “I had my own experiences a couple times with Lord [Richard] Attenborough or Oliver Stone or Christopher Nolan, where you are given this cold-plunge crash course in all things cinema. I really feel that Director Park took you to task, and he never pulled any punches. He was very exacting on you, but the sense of pride that I could see he was feeling, knowing that intuitively he had made the right choice”.
Downy Jr has worked with some of the most influential directors working today, but the likes of Chan-wook, Christopher Nolan, Oliver Stone and Richard Attenborough have such a colossal filmmaking history that their knowledge and understanding of the medium is undeniable, acting as a wealth of information on the fundamentals of cinema and all the wisdom they have gleaned during their time on set.
However, the chance to work with Chan-wook is a unique experience that is sure to stand out in both Xuande and Downey Jr’s careers, working with a daring auteur who has never been afraid to step over the line and do what many are afraid to do.
