Spy Sorge

Spy Sorge (Japanese: スパイ・ゾルゲ, Hepburn: Supai Zoruge) is a 2003 Japanese film co-written and directed by Masahiro Shinoda, about the World War II-era Soviet spy Richard Sorge.^[2][3] It stars Scottish actor Iain Glen in the title role. Shinoda intended the film, a long and lavish production, to be his final feature. True to his word, the director died 22 years later without having directed another film.

Spy Sorge
Film poster
Directed by	Masahiro Shinoda
Screenplay by	Masahiro Shinoda Robert Mandy[1]
Produced by	Masaru Koibuchi Masato Hara Manfred Durniok Peter Rawley[1]
Starring	Iain Glen Masahiro Motoki Kippei Shiina Takaya Kamikawa Riona Hazuki[1]
Cinematography	Tatsuo Suzuki[1]
Edited by	Hiroshi Okuda[1]
Music by	Shin'ichirō Ikebe[1]
Production companies	Asmik Ace Entertainment Imagica Obic Sammy Corporation Sega Toho TV Asahi[1]
Distributed by	Toho[1]
Release date	June 14, 2003 (2003-06-14) (Japan)
Running time	182 minutes[1]
Country	Japan
Languages	Japanese English

Spy Sorge achieved modest critical and commercial success. Despite this, the film received multiple nominations at the 2004 Japan Academy Awards.

Plot

The film presents the life of Richard Sorge (Iain Glen), a German spy for the Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU) of the Soviet Army in Japan. Sorge and his contact Hotsumi Ozaki (Masahiro Motoki) are arrested by the Tokubetsu Kōtō Keisatsu (Special Higher Police) in Tokyo, and Sorge recounts the main events in flashbacks.^[4][5]

Cast

• Iain Glen : Richard Sorge
• Masahiro Motoki : Hotsumi Ozaki
• Kippei Shiina : Mitsusada Yoshikawa
• Takaya Kamikawa : Tokko T
• Toshiya Nagasawa : Miyagi Yotoku
• Riona Hazuki : Hanako Miyake
• Koyuki : Yoshiko Yamazaki
• Armin Marewski  : Branko Vukelic
• Yui Natsukawa : Hideko Ozaki
• Takaaki Enoki : Duke Fumimaro Konoye
• Hideji Otaki : Duke Kinmochi Sai-onji
• Michael Christian : Josef Albert Meisinger
• Shima Iwashita : Mrs. Konoe
• Ulrich Mühe : Eugen Ott
• Wolfgang S. Zechmayer : Max Christiansen-Clausen
• Mia Yu : Agnes Smedley
• Hanayagi Juraku : Emperor Hirohito
• Maro Akaji : Sugiyama Hajime
• Mitsuru Fukikoshi : Saionji Kenkazu
• Shingo Tsurumi : Ushiba Tomohiko
• Dō Haraguchi : Shigeru Honjō
• Naoto Takenaka : Hideki Tojo
• Tsuruoka Daijirō : Yasuhide Kurihara
• Youichi Okamura : Taketora Ogata
• Tatsu Kaneko : Takahashi Korekiyo
• Marek Wlodarczyk : Yan Karlovich Berzin
• Jurij Rosstalnyi : Semyon Uritsky
• Robert Mika : Lavrentiy Beria
• Peter Borchert : Joseph Stalin

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

Awards and nominations

• Best Art Direction for Hajime Oikawa at the Awards of the Japanese Academy 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

• Mainichi Film Award for Excellence Film in 2004 (shared with Like Asura, Zatōichi and Doppelganger)