The School of Spies

1966 ‘陸軍中野学校’ Directed by Yasuzō Masumura

Nakano Institution is the so-called ‘Spy School’ where many young men are trained to be excellent spies. They erase their names, families, even lovers to bury themselves in training. Jiro, one of the cadets, successfully seize the secret code of English army to pass the final exam. However, he reaches the crossroad when his fiancee Yukiko turns out to be a spy of the enemy.

Raizō Ichikawa Mayumi Ogawa Kyōsuke Machida E.H. Eric Daisuke Katō Yûzô Hayakawa Manabu Morita Akira Natsuki Shizuo Chûjô Takashi Nakamura Sachiko Murase Yûji Moriya Shin Minatsu Tazuko Niki Yasuo Harumoto Jun Osanai Tadashi Date Kōichi Itō

Alternative Titles

Rikugun Nakano gakko, Nakano Spy School, L'école militaire de Nakano

drama war

96 mins More details at IMDb TMDb Report this film

Popular reviews

Review by Bingham_Bryant 3

Fiancée of a Spy
I'm sure this will be a touchstone for Kurosawa's Pre-WWII espionage flick. Even putting the similar historical subject matter and its affinity with Kiyoshi-favorite Red Angel aside, this one would very comfortably fit in with his miraculous recent run of investigations into identity and spiritual life vis-à-vis marriage and the couple. Since it's Masumura, the conclusion is much more chilling and pessimistic – but even the most misanthropic, necrophiliac image here also contains a very human sadness.
Daisuke Katō is miscast. This actor, often brilliant elsewhere, cannot bring the Welles-ian false nobility needed to sustain any ambiguity or ambivalence. Paradoxically, though this hurts the film, it also makes it quintessentially Masamura's – power is only held by true clowns, and by extension the men and women willing to empty themselves out enough to become puppets.
Review by KD_ ★★★★

NAKANO SPY SCHOOL tells the story of Japan’s first military intelligence training school. The school does not have official status, nor does it receive funding, it’s a passion project of the founder of the school, Lieutenant Kusanagi (portrayed by the great Kato Daisuke). It’s his ardent passion and apparent honesty that sways the young, hesitant men to give their all for their newfound cause. Kusanagi asks and expects them to “reconstruct the world”. Interestingly, Kusanagi is good-hearted and often comes across as more human than the people he instilled his passion in.
Jiro (Ichikawa Raizo), the protagonist, is asked to become a spy and thus leave behind his old identity and the ties that come with that identity. Meanwhile, his…
Review by willy

the japanese army is deplorable
they aim to do battle with the entire world, even if it destroys japan in the process
while this quote comes from one of the two fluent japanese speaking white guys in the cast (!!), the president of a trading company trying to lure a typist to become a spy for the west under false pretenses, this film about a japanese spy school leading up to world war 2 (already invaded china) itself seems pretty critical of japan.
i was put off when the opening was a montage of newspaperclippings celebrating their infamously cruel takeover of china, but then, not long into it, here a quote by one of the students
but, in reality, isn't…
Review by Rackve ★★★★

Retrospectiva de Yasuzo Masumura
Ficción sobre una escuela de espías japoneses que existió durante la segunda guerra mundial, aunque la película no trata de ser un documenta o basado en hechos reales, muestra el funcionamiento de la primera generación de militares entrenado para ser espias, obviemente la sexualidad reprimida de estos jóvenes y las misiones que tiene que cumplir se verán reflejadas en sus actos. Con una historia de amor a la par, vemos este drama de un jovén que por decisión propia y por el nacionalismo inculcado decide dejar todo para volverse espía.
Primera película que vi de este director donde se puede ver un poco el erotismo manifestado en sus demás película y el manejo de la sexualidad como un acto común y corriente.
Además como pilon a la exhibición, todas la copias eran 35mm, eso le otorga un plus con el sonido del proyectos y los cambios de rollos
Review by Pablo Knote ★★★★½

Meisterhaft inszenierte, von Melancholie und hoffnungslosem Fatalismus durchsetzte, facettenreiche und im Subtext äußerst implikationsreich erzählte, hochintelligente Attacke auf den blinden Gehorsam innerhalb totalitärer Systeme.

Recent reviews

Review by KD_ ★★★★

NAKANO SPY SCHOOL tells the story of Japan’s first military intelligence training school. The school does not have official status, nor does it receive funding, it’s a passion project of the founder of the school, Lieutenant Kusanagi (portrayed by the great Kato Daisuke). It’s his ardent passion and apparent honesty that sways the young, hesitant men to give their all for their newfound cause. Kusanagi asks and expects them to “reconstruct the world”. Interestingly, Kusanagi is good-hearted and often comes across as more human than the people he instilled his passion in.
Jiro (Ichikawa Raizo), the protagonist, is asked to become a spy and thus leave behind his old identity and the ties that come with that identity. Meanwhile, his…
Review by Bingham_Bryant 3

Fiancée of a Spy
I'm sure this will be a touchstone for Kurosawa's Pre-WWII espionage flick. Even putting the similar historical subject matter and its affinity with Kiyoshi-favorite Red Angel aside, this one would very comfortably fit in with his miraculous recent run of investigations into identity and spiritual life vis-à-vis marriage and the couple. Since it's Masumura, the conclusion is much more chilling and pessimistic – but even the most misanthropic, necrophiliac image here also contains a very human sadness.
Daisuke Katō is miscast. This actor, often brilliant elsewhere, cannot bring the Welles-ian false nobility needed to sustain any ambiguity or ambivalence. Paradoxically, though this hurts the film, it also makes it quintessentially Masamura's – power is only held by true clowns, and by extension the men and women willing to empty themselves out enough to become puppets.
Review by willy

the japanese army is deplorable
they aim to do battle with the entire world, even if it destroys japan in the process
while this quote comes from one of the two fluent japanese speaking white guys in the cast (!!), the president of a trading company trying to lure a typist to become a spy for the west under false pretenses, this film about a japanese spy school leading up to world war 2 (already invaded china) itself seems pretty critical of japan.
i was put off when the opening was a montage of newspaperclippings celebrating their infamously cruel takeover of china, but then, not long into it, here a quote by one of the students
but, in reality, isn't…
Review by casualwastrel

The resolution is gratifying, but the rest is kind of a slog.
Review by maia ★★★★

No soap opera twists, no embelishments, just pristine writing, with a creation of extremely subtle and tense mis-en-scène
Review by Rackve ★★★★

Retrospectiva de Yasuzo Masumura
Ficción sobre una escuela de espías japoneses que existió durante la segunda guerra mundial, aunque la película no trata de ser un documenta o basado en hechos reales, muestra el funcionamiento de la primera generación de militares entrenado para ser espias, obviemente la sexualidad reprimida de estos jóvenes y las misiones que tiene que cumplir se verán reflejadas en sus actos. Con una historia de amor a la par, vemos este drama de un jovén que por decisión propia y por el nacionalismo inculcado decide dejar todo para volverse espía.
Primera película que vi de este director donde se puede ver un poco el erotismo manifestado en sus demás película y el manejo de la sexualidad como un acto común y corriente.
Además como pilon a la exhibición, todas la copias eran 35mm, eso le otorga un plus con el sonido del proyectos y los cambios de rollos
Review by Pablo Knote ★★★★½

Meisterhaft inszenierte, von Melancholie und hoffnungslosem Fatalismus durchsetzte, facettenreiche und im Subtext äußerst implikationsreich erzählte, hochintelligente Attacke auf den blinden Gehorsam innerhalb totalitärer Systeme.