The setting is Japan before they entered World War II. The handwriting is already on the wall, though, as Japan has entered into an agreement with Germany and Italy.
Kiyoshi Kurosawa's "Wife of a Spy" is about one Japanese couple's story: Yusaku Fukuhara (Issey Takahashi) and his wife Satoko (Yu Aoi). Yusaku is a silk merchant who is an amateur filmmaker on the side. He who is proud to be Japanese, but is in stark disagreement with where his government is headed. He believes that an armed conflict with the United States will lead to the destruction of Japan.
Yusaku falls under suspicion as a possible traitor when he invites Taiji (Mashiro Higashide), an old friend of Satoko who is now the head of the local police force, to share a drink of banned foreign scotch with him. The choice of scotch immediately places Yusaku in the crosshairs of Tajii.
Yusaku becomes a subversive activist while on business in Japanese-occupied Manchuria. There he discovers that his countrymen are performing medical experiments on the locals that are causing them to die and be tossed into massive graves.
His smuggles out film and documentation of the murders and becomes a rogue spy. He's not being paid by anyone, but he wants to get his evidence to the Allied forces, though he has little idea how to accomplish it.
Yusaku's attempts to keep all this from his wife eventually fail, and she is initially torn between her allegiance to Japan and to what her husband feels must be done. Satoko is the primary character from this point on until the end.
"Wife of a Spy" is very competent and sometimes tense, but never quite stirring as a whole. My reaction might be partially caused by differences in how Japanese people of that era might behave in comparison to Americans in the same situation. Anyway, it's still quality, so probably worth your while.
| Movie title | Wife of a Spy |
|---|---|
| Release year | 2020 |
| MPAA Rating | NR |
| Our rating | |
| Summary | World War II Japanese spy flick is a new take and well made, even if not great. |
