Musician Ryuichi Sakamoto bids farewell through a movie

A frail back of a man sitting in front of the piano is shown. This is the beginning of the 103-minute farewell message bid by Ryuichi Sakamoto (1952-2023), a world-renowned Japanese musician who passed away in March this year.

‘Ryuichi Sakamoto: Opus,’ to be released in Korea, the first location in the world on Dec. 27, depicts the late musician’s final performance. The film documents his musical career, from performing in the ‘Yellow Magic Orchestra (YMO)’ to film music and his last regular album ‘12’. Sensing that he didn’t have much time before his time ended, Ryuichi decided to create work that could be convincing to others, filming the documentary for eight days from September 8 to 15 last year. The musician filmed three songs per day two or three times a day at the NHK 509 studio, which he thought was the best place to record sound.

Twenty songs are played, starting with ‘Lack of Love,’ ‘Solitude,’ ‘Ichimei-small Happiness,’ and ‘The Last Emperor.’ The musician selected and arranged the songs, expressing the hours of a day from dark, dawn, day, and night.

The film focuses on the musician’s performance and expression‎. The director, Sora Neo, who is Sakamoto’s son, portrayed the screen in black and white, urging viewers to concentrate on the musical performance. The late musician’s hoarse breathing and turning of the music sheets seem to be part of the music. Sakamoto reportedly said “good work” after watching the edited version.


beborn@donga.com