‘Wife of a Spy’ (Supai no tsuma)

On the cusp of entering the Secord World War, Japan is divided. Tradition and outward looking-modernisation are at odds as Satoko (Yu Aoi), the wife of a successful fabric merchant, discovers her husband Yusaku (Issey Takahashi) is a subversive.

An uneasy melodrama develops as an initially suspicious and jealous Satoko discovers more and more, convinced Yusaku is having an affair. Director Kiyoshi Kurosawa threads into the narrative romance, politics and Hitchcockian spy thriller, an approach that won him the Best Director Silver Lion at the 2020 Venice Film Festival.

Rating: 61%

Director: Kiyoshi Kurosawa (Journey to the Shore,Tokyo Sonata)

Writer: Kiyoshi Kurosawa (Journey to the Shore,Tokyo Sonata), Ryûsuke Hamaguchi (Asako I & II, Happy Hour), Tadashi Nohara (Mitabime no shojiki, Happy Hour)

Main cast: Yu Aoi (Journey to the Shore, Birds Without Names), Issey Takahashi (Blank 13, Kill Bill), Masahiro Higashide ((Asako I & II,, Foreboding)

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