The Little Drummer Girl is a brilliant John le Carré adaptation from Park Chan-wook

The Ringer

The Korean filmmaker behind Oldboy and The Handmaiden rolls out his six-part adaptation on AMC over the next three nights. "Park’s series feels different from le Carré adaptations that have come before it," says Chris Ryan, adding: "The Israeli-Palestinian conflict still rages on, but Park’s series is a period piece, packed with archaic recording equipment, stylish pistols, gorgeous vintage Mercedes, and some dynamite outfits. It has all the signifiers of a ’70s spy yarn, but Park seems far more interested in the psychology of the characters, far beyond the politics and realities of the moment. He asks: Why would anyone be drawn into this particular kind of work? What calculations would need to be made to live a double or even triple life? If you are a copy of yourself, what happens to the original in the act of copying?" He adds: "The visual language of the spy thriller is tension and paranoia. The Little Drummer Girl is certainly tense—and has its fair share of set pieces—but it doesn’t feel like a ’70s thriller. It speaks a different visual language altogether.

ALSO:

• The Little Drummer Girl is reminiscent of the first two seasons of Homeland, in a good way
• It's a bit sluggish as a spy story, but sublime as a work of auteurist art
• Park makes the le Carré novel his own
• Park says of making The Little Drummer Girl: "My film world is quite dark, and I would say that Le Carré is a big influence on that"