Wife of a Spy
This World War II Japanese film about a wife who suspects her husband of being a traitor plays more like a melodrama than a thriller.
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“Wife of a Spy” is an interesting movie, and sometimes it’s better to be interesting than good.
It’s a Japanese World War II film about Satoko (Yū Aoi), a young, affluent wife who begins to suspect that her husband, Yūsaku (Issey Takahashi), is a spy. They have a very loving, joyful relationship, and as the story opens Yūsaku is starting to do a lot of traveling and associating with foreigners for his import-export business.
This takes him away from his wife for long stretches, but even worse it starts to bring the attention of the authorities. The story begins in 1940 when Japan is largely storming across the Asian continent without significant opposition, and citizens are expected to kowtow to the atmosphere of increased militarization.
What surprised me about the movie, directed by Kiyoshi Kurosawa from a screenplay he co-wrote with Ryûsuke Hamaguchi and Tadashi Nohara, is how much it eschews the typical devices of the spy genre.
There are no chases, double-crosses or gunfights. No back-alley meetings, secret telegrams, wiretaps and other stuff designed to ratchet up tension. Instead, it focuses almost entirely on the couple’s relationship, how it is strained and changed by Yūsaku’s spy activities, which Satoko eventually becomes caught up in herself.
This film is less Jason Bourne and more a marriage melodrama.
I’ll admit I found it slow going at first. But eventually the film, based on a true story, picks up steam and the second half is solid and compelling.
Satoko and Yūsaku already stood out from the crowed even before the war. They’re young, handsome and embrace a Western lifestyle, favoring the clothing, cars and even the whiskey from England or America. In the first scene, a British raw silk dealer who is a friend is arrested on trumped-up spying charges, and Yūsaku uses his wealth and influence to get him sprung.
This draws the eye of Taiji (Masahiro Higashide), a childhood friend who is now the leader of a military intelligence unit. He drops by Yūsaku’s office to gently warn him that he needs to toe the line, but the businessman laughs off the advice. That seems to be his M.O in general — playing the part of the unserious playboy.
But Satoko is much more worried about the situation, and tries to run interference. There’s a subtle suggestion that Taiji harbors unrequited feelings for her, adding to the volatile mix.
After Yūsaku takes his nephew, Fumio (Ryōta Bandō), on a trip to Manchuria to source some supplies, things quickly go awry. Fumio, who had been filming amateur spy movies starring Satoko, abruptly leaves the company and announces he’s going to become a novelist. Yūsaku becomes more secretive and mysterious, using the office safe to lock things up.
The breaking point is when Satoko goes to Taiji with some evidence of her husband’s misdeeds, knowing they will be seen as traitorous. Is she betraying her husband, trying to steer him back to blind loyalty to his country, or something else entirely?
For much of the first part of the movie, she suspects that her husband may be cheating on her — especially when he and Fumio “rescue” a nurse, Hiroko (Hyunri), from Manchuria, who happens to be ravishingly beautiful. Is she truly more bothered by the potential spying or infidelity?
This is a great-looking film filled with authentic period costumes, vehicles and locations. Director Kurosawa (no relation to the great Akira) has a fine idea for details, and directs his scenes with patience, letting moments stretch out and linger.
At times, “Wife of a Spy” can bump up against feeling like a soap opera. As the great Pauline Kael would say, this movie could use less talk-talk and a little more kiss-kiss and bang-bang.
Still, it’s an enjoyable and sometimes intriguing look at the spy drama from a perspective we’re not used to seeing.