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IMDbPro

Wife of a Spy

Original title: Supai no tsuma
  • 20202020
  • 1h 55m
IMDb RATING
6.6/10
2.3K
YOUR RATING
POPULARITY
4,237
1,505
Yû Aoi in Wife of a Spy (2020)
Trailer 1
Play trailer1:47
2 Videos
13 Photos
  • Drama
  • History
  • War
A Japanese merchant who leaves his wife behind in order to travel to Manchuria, where he witnesses an act of barbarism. His subsequent actions cause misunderstanding, jealousy and legal prob... Read allA Japanese merchant who leaves his wife behind in order to travel to Manchuria, where he witnesses an act of barbarism. His subsequent actions cause misunderstanding, jealousy and legal problems for his wife.A Japanese merchant who leaves his wife behind in order to travel to Manchuria, where he witnesses an act of barbarism. His subsequent actions cause misunderstanding, jealousy and legal problems for his wife.
IMDb RATING
6.6/10
2.3K
YOUR RATING
POPULARITY
4,237
1,505
  • Director
    • Kiyoshi Kurosawa
  • Writers
    • Ryûsuke Hamaguchi
    • Kiyoshi Kurosawa
    • Tadashi Nohara
  • Stars
    • Yû Aoi
    • Issey Takahashi
    • Masahiro Higashide
Top credits
  • Director
    • Kiyoshi Kurosawa
  • Writers
    • Ryûsuke Hamaguchi
    • Kiyoshi Kurosawa
    • Tadashi Nohara
  • Stars
    • Yû Aoi
    • Issey Takahashi
    • Masahiro Higashide
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 12User reviews
    • 65Critic reviews
    • 79Metascore
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Awards
      • 9 wins & 16 nominations

    Videos2

    Wife of a Spy
    Trailer 1:47
    Wife of a Spy
    WIFE OF A SPY - official US trailer
    Trailer 1:47
    WIFE OF A SPY - official US trailer

    Photos13

    Wife of a Spy (2020)
    Wife of a Spy (2020)
    Wife of a Spy (2020)
    Wife of a Spy (2020)
    Wife of a Spy (2020)
    Wife of a Spy (2020)
    Yû Aoi and Masahiro Higashide in Wife of a Spy (2020)
    From a movie « Spy’s wife »
    Yû Aoi, Issey Takahashi, and Masahiro Higashide in Wife of a Spy (2020)
    Wife of a Spy (2020)
    Wife of a Spy (2020)
    Wife of a Spy (2020)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Yû Aoi
    Yû Aoi
    • Satoko Fukuharaas Satoko Fukuhara
    Issey Takahashi
    Issey Takahashi
    • Yusaku Fukuharaas Yusaku Fukuhara
    Masahiro Higashide
    Masahiro Higashide
    • Yasuharu Tsumorias Yasuharu Tsumori
    Ryôta Bandô
    • Fumio Takeshitaas Fumio Takeshita
    Yuri Tsunematsu
    Yuri Tsunematsu
    • Komakoas Komako
    Minosuke
    • Kanemuraas Kanemura
    Hyunri
    Hyunri
    • Hiroko Kusakabeas Hiroko Kusakabe
    Takashi Sasano
    • Doctor Nozakias Doctor Nozaki
    Chuck Johnson
    Chuck Johnson
    • Bobas Bob
    Nihi
    Nihi
    • Foreign Business Supplieras Foreign Business Supplier
    David Ridges
    • John Fitzgerald Drummondas John Fitzgerald Drummond
    Sakichi Sato
    • Diamond Seller in alleyas Diamond Seller in alley
    • Director
      • Kiyoshi Kurosawa
    • Writers
      • Ryûsuke Hamaguchi
      • Kiyoshi Kurosawa
      • Tadashi Nohara
    • All cast & crew
    • See more cast details at IMDbPro

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      When Fumio and Yusaku are about to depart to Manchuria, Fumio mentions "Here we go to settler's paradise". This refers to the propaganda regarding the massive migration program undertook by the Japanese government called "Millions to Manchuria" that sent hundreds of thousands of peasants to settle and colonize the rural areas of northern Manchuria (Manchukuo at the time).
    • Goofs
      After their departing British friend gives them silk in an early scene, Yusaku suggests making it into western-style clothes. Satoko warns that this will go against the new National Uniform Edict. A few scenes later, Yusaku leaves for a business trip to Manchuria. While he is away, Satoko hears on the radio that the Tripartite Pact has been signed with Germany and Italy. The radio makes clear that the date is September 27, 1940. However, the National Uniform Edict was not issued until over a month later, on November 2, 1940, meaning it would not have been in effect during the earlier scene with the silk.
    • Connections
      Features Priest of Darkness (1936)
    • Soundtracks
      Make Believe
      Music by Jerome Kern

      8mm movie BGM

    User reviews12

    Review
    Top review
    8/10
    A perfect combination of melodrama and spy thriller
    Summary

    Remarkable espionage melodrama in Japan in 1940, which unfolds to the rhythm of the vicissitudes of the couple of the protagonist marriage, in a perfect combination of both plots.

    Review:

    Yusako Fukuhara (Issey Takahashi) is a wealthy cloth merchant who lives with his wife Satoko (Yu Ahoi) in Kobe. It is 1940, shortly before Japan joined the Axis with Germany and Italy at a time when the country is traversed by a nationalist and traditionalist wave, with surveillance of customs and which is suspicious of westernized Japanese, as they both are. On the other hand, Satoko intervenes as an actress in homemade crime videos that her husband films. Yusako and Satoko constitute a westernized marriage and he frequently deals with foreign clients. When a British client of hers is accused of espionage, the marriage falls in the crosshairs of the military, in particular Yasuharu Tsumori, a new squad leader (Masahiro Higashide), who was Satoko's youthful love. Yusako's immediate business trip to Manchuria will raise suspicions and trigger subsequent events.

    Where does this spy melodrama actually begin? Where is the tip of his intrigue? This is one of the strengths of Kiyoshi Kurosawa's film and one of his basic questions, since the story is developed from Satoko's point of view. It is not a complicated and overwhelming puzzle posed from the beginning as such, but rather a succession of veils of an espionage intrigue that delicately fall depending on the dynamics of the couple, to the rhythm of the distrust, jealousy and loyalties that Satoko is experiencing, who from a protected and childish role begins to play a more active role in the relationship, while the domestic placidity of the story can turn to horror. This structure and tone, added to the time in which the story takes place and its delightful reconstruction, bring the film closer to Hitchcock's universe.

    Kurosawa leads us with his film to a kind of prodigious coda, where he gives an account of History with an admirable visual power.
    helpful•8
    2
    • danybur
    • Sep 14, 2021

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • September 17, 2021 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • Japan
    • Official sites
      • A Contracorriente Films (Spain)
      • Amuse Soft (Japan)
    • Languages
      • Japanese
      • English
    • Also known as
      • Casusun Karısı
    • Production companies
      • C&I Entertainment
      • ENBU Seminar
      • Incline
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Gross US & Canada
      • $69,464
    • Opening weekend US & Canada
      • $7,162
      • Sep 19, 2021
    • Gross worldwide
      • $2,280,554
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      1 hour 55 minutes
    • Color
      • Color

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