AllMovie

This French/Japanese co-production, originally titled Qui Etes Vois, M. Sorge?, is founded on a true wartime tale. Thomas Holzman plays Richard Sorge, who from 1935 through 1943 was an ambassador at the German embassy in Japan. Unbeknownst to his embassy colleagues, Sorge was actually a Russian spy, leaking out secret war and invasion plans in preparation for the anticipated Soviet takeover of Japan after the war. Sorge is eventually foiled by the professorial diligence of a Japanese colonel. The film begins in the manner of the much-later Reds (1981), with interviews of several famous personages who knew Sorge, including Hans Otto Meisner. Director Yves Ciampi melds stock footage into his staged scenes, which, though meticulously accurate, tend to plod along at a snail's pace until the lively climax.