Centering on North Korean diplomat Lim Byun-Ho (Suk-kyu Han), the movie shows his perilous escape to the Western side of Berlin during the Cold War. But his problems are just beginning, as he is graphically tortured by intelligence officers to see if he is actually a double agent sent to spy on them. It turns out he is just that, and after he is released he starts a new life; the dangerous and at times desperate life of an agent operating deep within enemy territory.

Despite a promising premise, the film's execution is problematic and pedestrian. While the concept of poor relations between North and South Korea is still relevant today, the Cold War aspects date the film to an era few clearly remember or are familiar with. It makes "Comrade" less accessible, as well as feeling like a period piece made too long after the period was over. Director Hyeon-jeong Kim's decision to ditch action in favor of realism and characters also hampers the film. His directorial style is unimpressive, and contributes little in terms of visuals to the tale. Clocking in at nearly two hours, "Comrade" is slow and feels overlong. It is impressive that the director would try to tackle the daunting task of making a spy film with low action and gadget-free, but a two hour character study only tests the audience's patience and causes attentions to wander.

"Comrade" is not without its bright spots, however, especially Han Suk-kyu ("Shiri") as the central character. He does a tremendous job of portraying his character as a real person, with internal conflicts, fears, loyalties and actual emotional responses. Although essentially an anti-hero because of his profession, the actor's portrayal manages to elicit a sympathetic response to the character and his plight. Surprisingly, we become concerned for his welfare during the course of this dull film, and can almost forgive the fact that he is working as a traitor to the country he lives in. Han Suk-kyu's performance is especially good during the brutal torture scenes; he truly seems like a man in agony and afraid for his well-being. This becomes doubly impressive when it's revealed that he is, in fact, a double agent, and he managed to keep this secret despite the atrocities inflicted upon him.

As Yun Sun-mi, a radio show hostess and fellow spy, actress So-young Ko ("A Day") is also good, but can be frequently overshadowed by the presence of the lead actor. Still, she does manage to convincing portray another person whose life is essentially one long role play, and the difficulties and stresses it can cause. The finale is also impressive: a beautifully poetic shot that is sure to elicit an emotional response from even the most hardened viewer. Too bad the rest of the film isn't as effective.

Those interested in espionage history or drawn out character studies will find "Comrade" to their liking. Its focus on loyalty to your country, extreme personal sacrifice, commitment to duty, and the effects those values have on a man in extreme circumstances will be fascinating. Everyone else looking for entertainment and excitement should skip this monotonous film.

The film--titled "Ijung Kanchop" (Double Agent) in Korean--marks the return of Han Suk-kyu, the star of "Shiri" who, at the height of his popularity, decided to take a three-year hiatus from films. At first glance, Han might seem to be searching to recapture the commercial success of the 1999 spy thriller, but his new role is light years apart from the South Korean agent in the previous film.

In "Comrade," Han plays Lim Byong-ho, a ranking North Korean agent working at the embassy in East Germany, who defects by narrowly escaping and making his way through the Berlin Wall's Checkpoint Charlie in 1980. Chased by North Korean officials and snipers, Lim is met on the other side of the wall by South Korean officials, who carry him away to safety.

Or so it seems, until they arrive in South Korea and Lim is taken to the Central Intelligence Agency headquarters in Seoul's Namsan Mountain, a place known for brutal "interrogations" during the 1970s and '80s. Despite Lim's repeated pleas that he defected to "find freedom," the Korean CIA put him through a horrifying series of torture methods involving live electric wires and water.

Finally convinced that Lim is actually telling the truth, the agency decides to put him to work for the CIA, at first training operatives on North Korean tactics, and later, becoming entering the heart of the agency as a special information analyst.

But black and white quickly returns to gray. Lim turns out to be a North Korean spy after all, waiting to receive his orders from another agent, Yun Su-mi (Go So-young) a disc jockey at a classical radio station. Arranging an accidental meeting in a church, Yun and Lim get romantically involved as a cover for their espionage, but in their isolation this leads to actual feelings for each other.

The human relationships between South and North operatives reflect the conflict of ideological assumptions that seems the real focus of this film. Whereas "JSA" showed the North Korean soldier in a positive light, "Comrade" ironically approaches him as the wolf-in-sheep's-clothing figure that pervaded most South Korean textbooks in the late 20th century. It's to the point that the film sometimes plays like a paranoid propaganda film from the McCarthy era.

The film is equally unforgiving when it comes to the extreme and sometimes inhumane methods used by the South Korean government in the fight against Communism. Students returning from Germany are shown being taken by the CIA and mercilessly interrogated until they admit the "truth." A romantic encounter between Lim and Yun takes place at the Namsan Botanical Gardens, an ironic choice given that "going to Namsan" back then was a euphemism for being interrogated. (The CIA has since changed its name to National Intelligence Service and has moved from the site.)

But the power of the movie resides in that these incongruities and ambiguities do not lead to any definite answer. While "Comrade" does an excellent job recreating the look and feel of the period, it is what is left unsaid that makes Han's performance, as well as the story itself, all the more believable and resonant.