Park Chan-wook makes his TV debut behind the camera directing a John le Carré adaptation
It’s hard to replicate a multiple award-winning series such as The Night Manager, but John le Carré sons, who lead the production company The Ink Factory, decided that another of their father’s books was worth a try. This time they let the Oscar winner director Susanne Bier have some rest and they asked the south korean visionary filmmaker Park Chan-wook (Oldboy) to direct the adaptation of The Little Drummer Girl.
The miniseries premiered two weeks ago in London and made its debut yesterday at Rome Film Festival: it’s a complex spy story with political thriller elements set to air in the UK and in the U.S. in November.
The Little Drummer Girl is set the late 1970s, in Europe: Charlie Ross is a young theatre actress on the rise, with a sympathy for the Palestinian cause. After accepting an invitation from a mysterious philanthropist, who offers her theater company the chance to perform in Greece, Charlie discovers to be a pawn in a real life production set up by Israeli spy Marty Kurtz. The man offers her the role of a lifetime: infiltrating a palestinian group to capture a dangerous terrorist.
Based on the two episodes which premiered at Rome Film Festival, the miniseries looks spectacular: it’s another luxurious work with an excellent international cast led by Michael Shannon, Florence Pugh and Alexander Skarsgård. The 22-year-old british actress is the one who takes center stage, impersonating a complex female character whose personality is a mix of an unpredictable teenager and a femme fatale.
The story is intricate and compelling, but we have to wait for the other four episodes to fully judge the narrative. What we know for sure is that Park Chan-wook did a great job in recreating the atmosphere of the novel, thanks to his attention to details and his unique sense of aesthetics.
