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Wife of a Spy is a Hitchcock-style thriller and historical drama in which one woman must balance the weight of national loyalty with moral obligations to fellow human beings.

The year is 1940, and the population of Japan is divided over its entry into World War II. Satoko (Yû Aoi, Japan Society’s 2021 Honoree), the wife of a local fabric merchant and amateur filmmaker (Issey Takahashi of Kill Bill), is devoted to her husband, but is beginning to have suspicions about him. Following a trip to Manchuria, he becomes determined to bring to light the things he witnessed and secretly filmed while there. Meanwhile Satoko receives a visit from her childhood friend who is now a military policeman. He warns her about her husband’s seditious ways and makes some revelations that set her down a path where she must choose between loyalty to her husband and the life they have built, and the country they call home. The film’s director and master filmmaker Kiyoshi Kurosawa (Pulse, Cure, Tokyo Sonata) won the Silver Lion (Best Director) for this film at the 2020 Venice Film Festival. [2020, Japan, 115 min, Rated: NR, in Japanese with English subtitles]

Amy Nicholson of FilmWeek exclaims, “It’s a great movie about fear, paranoia, and trying to do the right thing.” John Powers of NPR says “It is immaculately turned, from its superb acting and exquisite cinematography to its finely-tooled plotting.”

Location: Cinema Art Theater

Admission

• $8.00 RBFS Members
• $11.00 General

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