is a Japanese film directed by

Masahiro Shinoda is a retired Japanese film director, originally associated with the Shochiku Studio, who came to prominence as part of the Japanese New Wave in the 1960s. Early life Shinoda attended Waseda University, where he studied theater and also partici ...

in 2003, about the Soviet

spy Espionage, spying, or intelligence gathering is the act of obtaining secret or confidential information (intelligence) from non-disclosed sources or divulging of the same without the permission of the holder of the information for a tangib ...

Richard Sorge Richard Sorge (russian: Рихард Густавович Зорге, Rikhard Gustavovich Zorge; 4 October 1895 – 7 November 1944) was a German-Azerbaijani journalist and Soviet military intelligence officer who was active before and during Wo ...

. Shinoda intended the film, a long and lavish production that had only modest critical and commercial success, as his final feature.

Plot

The film presents the life of

, a German spy for the Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU) of the

Soviet Army uk, Радянська армія , image = File:Communist star with golden border and red rims.svg , alt = , caption = Emblem of the Soviet Army , start_date ...

in Japan. Sorge and his contact

Hotsumi Ozaki was a Japanese journalist working for the ''Asahi Shimbun'' newspaper, communist, Soviet intelligence agent, and advisor to Prime Minister Fumimaro Konoe. The only Japanese person to be hanged for treason (under the provisions of the Peace Pr ...

are arrested by the

Tokubetsu Kōtō Keisatsu The , often abbreviated , was a Japanese policing organization, established within the Home Ministry in 1911, for the purpose of carrying out high policing, domestic criminal investigations, and control of political groups and ideologies deemed ...

(Special Higher Police) in Tokyo, and Sorge recounts the main events in flashbacks.

Cast

Iain Glen Iain Alan Sutherland Glen (born 24 June 1961) is a Scottish actor. Glen is best known for his roles as Dr. Alexander Isaacs/Tyrant in three films of the ''Resident Evil'' film series (2004–2016) and as Ser Jorah Mormont in the HBO fantasy t ...

Masahiro Motoki Masahiro Motoki (本木雅弘 ''Motoki Masahiro'', born December 21, 1965) is a Japanese actor. He portrayed protagonist Daigo Kobayashi in '' Departures'', which won the 81st Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film. His performance earne ...

Kippei Shiina is a Japanese actor. Career Shiina portrayed John Rain and co-starred in Max Mannix's '' Rain Fall'' (2009) with Gary Oldman. He starred in Takeshi Kitano's '' Outrage'' (2010). Filmography Film *''Wangan Bad Boy Blue'' (1992) *''A Night in Nu ...

: Mitsusada Yoshikawa *

Takaya Kamikawa is a Japanese stage, film, and television actor. Biography Kamikawa was born in Hachioji, Tokyo in 1965. He graduated from Hachioji-Kita high school in Tokyo. While studying economics in Chuo University, he acted in a minor theatrical group whi ...

: Tokko T * Toshiya Nagasawa : Miyagi Yotoku * Riona Hazuki : Hanako Miyake *

Koyuki , better known by her stage name , is a Japanese model and actress. She rose to fame in the drama '' Kimi wa Petto'' with Jun Matsumoto and gained huge popularity, as well as the hit film ''The Last Samurai''. Career Actor career Koyuki appeared ...

: Yoshiko Yamazaki * Armin Marewski : Branko Vukelic *

Yui Natsukawa is a Japanese actress. She co-starred with Hiroshi Abe in the 2006 Japanese drama Kekkon Dekinai Otoko and in Hirokazu Kore-eda's 2008 film '' Still Walking''. Filmography Film * ''Sora ga Konnani Aoi Wake ga Nai'' (1993) - Kaoru Aoki * ''Yoru ...

: Hideko Ozaki *

Takaaki Enoki is a Japanese actor and artist from Isa District, Kagoshima. He is known for his role as private detective Mitsuhiko Asami in the ''Asami Mitsuhiko Series''. He attended Musashino Art University but left before graduating and joined the Shiki The ...

: Duke Fumimaro Konoye *

Hideji Otaki Hideji (written: 秀治, 秀司 or ひで次) is a masculine Japanese given name. Notable people with the name include: *, Japanese writer and playwright *, Japanese baseball player *, Japanese manga artist *, Japanese actor {{given name Japane ...

: Duke Kinmochi Sai-onji *Michael Christian :

Josef Albert Meisinger Josef Albert Meisinger (14 September 1899 – 7 March 1947), also known as the "Butcher of Warsaw", was an SS functionary in Nazi Germany. He held a position in the Gestapo and was a member of the Nazi Party. During the early phases of World War ...

Shima Iwashita is a Japanese actress who has appeared in about 100 films and many TV productions. She is married to film director Masahiro Shinoda, in whose films she has frequently appeared. She won the award for best actress at the 2nd Hochi Film Award for ...

: Mrs. Konoe *

Ulrich Mühe Friedrich Hans Ulrich Mühe (; 20 June 1953 – 22 July 2007) was a German film, television and theatre actor. He played the role of Hauptmann (Captain) Gerd Wiesler in the Oscar-winning film '' Das Leben der Anderen'' (''The Lives of Others'', 2 ...

: Eugen Ott *Wolfgang S. Zechmayer : Max Christiansen-Clausen *Mia Yu :

Agnes Smedley Agnes Smedley (February 23, 1892 – May 6, 1950) was an American journalist, writer, and activist who supported the Indian Independence Movement and the Chinese Communist Revolution. Raised in a poverty-stricken miner's family in Missouri and Co ...

* Hanayagi Juraku :

Emperor Hirohito Emperor , commonly known in English-speaking countries by his personal name , was the 124th emperor of Japan, ruling from 25 December 1926 until his death in 1989. Hirohito and his wife, Empress Kōjun, had two sons and five daughters; he was ...

* Maro Akaji : Sugiyama Hajime *

Mitsuru Fukikoshi is a Japanese actor. Career Born in Aomori Prefecture, Fukikoshi moved to Tokyo at age 19 and joined the Wahaha Honpo theater troupe. Since leaving Wahaha in 1999, he has appeared in many films and television dramas, while continuing to act on ...

: Saionji Kenkazu *

Shingo Tsurumi is a Japanese actor. Career Shingo Tsurumi has appeared in the films such as Katsuhito Ishii's '' Shark Skin Man and Peach Hip Girl'', Hideo Nakata's '' L: Change the World'', and Tak Sakaguchi's ''Yakuza Weapon''. Filmography Films * ''Tonda ...

: Ushiba Tomohiko * Dō Haraguchi : Shigeru Honjō *

Naoto Takenaka is a Japanese actor, comedian, singer, and director from Kanazawa-ku, Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture, affiliated with From First Production. He is married to idol singer and actress Midori Kinouchi. He is also known as the voice of Samuel L. ...

Hideki Tojo Hideki Tojo (, ', December 30, 1884 – December 23, 1948) was a Japanese politician, general of the Imperial Japanese Army (IJA), and convicted war criminal who served as prime minister of Japan and president of the Imperial Rule Assistan ...

*Tsuruoka Daijirō : Yasuhide Kurihara *Youichi Okamura :

Taketora Ogata was a Japanese journalist, Vice President of the Asahi Shimbun newspaper and later a politician. During the war, he joined the Imperial Rule Assistance Association. After the end of the war, he was purged from public service. Later, he became t ...

*Tatsu Kaneko :

Takahashi Korekiyo Viscount was a Japanese politician who served as a member of the House of Peers, as Prime Minister of Japan from 1921 to 1922, and as the head of the Bank of Japan and Ministry of Finance. Takahashi made many contributions to Japan's developm ...

*Marek Wlodarczyk :

Yan Karlovich Berzin Yan (Ian) Karlovich Berzin (russian: Ян Карлович Берзин; lv, Jānis Bērziņš; real name Pēteris Ķuzis; , Kreis Riga (now in Zaube parish), the Russian Empire – 29 July 1938, Moscow, the USSR), was a Latvian Soviet commun ...

*Jurij Rosstalnyi :

Semyon Uritsky Semyon Petrovich Uritsky (russian: Семён Петро́вич Ури́цкий; March 2, 1895 – August 1, 1938) was a Soviet General. He fought in the Imperial Russian Army during World War I before going over to the Bolsheviks. He was promo ...

*Robert Mika :

Lavrentiy Beria Lavrentiy Pavlovich Beria (; rus, Лавре́нтий Па́влович Бе́рия, Lavréntiy Pávlovich Bériya, p=ˈbʲerʲiə; ka, ლავრენტი ბერია, tr, ; – 23 December 1953) was a Georgian Bolsheviks ...

*Peter Borchert :

Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili; – 5 March 1953) was a Georgian revolutionary and Soviet political leader who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He held power as General Secretar ...

Technical details

*Writers: Robert Mandy & Masahiro Shinoda *Producers : Masato Hara, Masaru Koibuchi & Peter Rawley for Asmik Ace Entertainment & Manfred Durniok Filmproduktion *Music : Shin’ichirō Ikebe *Photography : Tatsuo Suzuki *Length: Japan : 182 min *Country: Japan / Germany *Language: Japanese *Colour: Colour *Sound: Dolby Digital

Honours

*Best Art Direction for Hajime Oikawa at the

Awards of the Japanese Academy The , often called the Japan Academy Prize, the Japan Academy Awards, and the Japanese Academy Awards, is a series of awards given annually since 1978 by the Japan Academy Film Prize Association (日本アカデミー賞協会, ''Nippon Akademii- ...

in 2004 * Also nominated at the same awards in the following categories: **Best Cinematography for Tatsuo Suzuki **Best Director for Masahiro Shinoda **Best Editing for Hiroshi Okuda **Best Film **Best Lighting for Hideshi Mikami **Best Music Score for Shin’ichirō Ikebe **Best Screenplay for Masahiro Shinoda and Robert Mandy **Best Sound for Tetsuo Segawa

References

External links

* 2003 films 2000s biographical films 2000s spy films Japanese biographical films World War II spy films World War II films based on actual events 2000s Japanese films {{bio-film-stub