“It wasn’t my idea to do it. It was his idea,” says Neo Sora, the director of Ryuichi Sakamoto | Opus, of his film that captures the great Japanese composer just months before he died, aged 71, in March 2023.
For years, Sakamoto had battled cancer. Undertaking a concert, let alone touring, was out of the question. Opus was a way of bringing his legions of fans one final, memorable performance.
Filmed in black and white, Opus shows Sakamoto at the piano, his music heard in its purest form.
“I think our relationship ultimately allowed us to be able to film even though he was very ill … because filming is quite taxing and invasive,” Sora tells the Post in an interview at the 2023 Venice International Film Festival, where the film premiered.
Shot on a sound stage in Tokyo in late 2022, Opus sees Sakamoto play 20 personally chosen pieces that span his career from his days with Yellow Magic Orchestra through to his final album, 12. At one moment, Sakamoto mutters, “I need a break”, as exhaustion sets in.
Ryuichi Sakamoto | Opus: Japanese composer’s riveting final concert film
Ryuichi Sakamoto | Opus: Japanese composer’s riveting final concert film
“There were some challenges with his health in that he could only play maybe up to three or four songs per day while shooting and could only afford one to three takes,” Sora says.
“So that meant that we had to be very focused and very concentrated, so that there were no technical errors or any mistakes. So those were challenges and I think it was certainly challenging for him because of his physical condition.”
During a rendition of “Bibo No Aozora”, Sakamoto stops midway and starts again. Surely, this must have been frustrating for such a perfectionist?
“A lot of people think he’s a perfectionist, and he definitely strives for something perfect, but I also don’t necessarily think he’s a perfectionist in that sense of the word,” Sora says.
“I think he enjoys dissonances and he enjoys all the things in between what’s perfect.” These were not mistakes per se, but experiments, Sora says.
“I think that’s something that you don’t necessarily ever see in a concert that’s really pristine and well-practised. This gives you a new dimension of how a composer plays around with sounds.”
“He chose his set list quite early, and I think that was kind of a rare thing,” Sora says.
“Usually he chose his set list a little bit closer to the date of his performances and even might decide to change the set list on the day of.” But with the shoot to consider – as well as crafting the overarching concept “to represent the passage of time”, Sora says – the music needed to be nailed down.
Sora is shy when it comes to speaking for his late father. Take the subject of film music, and whether Sakamoto felt that was a step down from his own albums.
Coda: Ryuichi Sakamoto on putting his life on film
Coda: Ryuichi Sakamoto on putting his life on film
“I don’t know if he really thought that film music was less important. He probably saw that as an equal playing field. Saw the beauty in both.”
But the director does speak candidly about his father’s relationship with Bertolucci. “I remember him telling me … he wrote some music for The Last Emperor, and then showed it to Bertolucci, who asked him to rewrite it.”
Set to record the music with the orchestra in the studio that day, Sakamoto was taken aback.
“[He] responded to him by saying, ‘Oh, I can’t rewrite it. They’re all waiting here. I can’t do that.’ And then Bertolucci just goes to him and says, ‘[Ennio] Morricone [the legendary composer, who scored the director’s film 1900] would have done that’, which pushed Sakamoto to go, ‘Give me 20 minutes’, and then he rewrote the whole thing.”
Opus is a testament to the legacy that Sakamoto leaves behind, a one-man performance in an empty space that will nevertheless fill viewers’ hearts with joy.
What does Sora hope for in terms of a release? “I’m not sure. But the film was made to be a theatrical experience. So I’m hoping that a lot of people will have the opportunity to watch it in theatres, especially with good sound.
“But also I know that the production team really wants to make sure that it is available for as many of his fans as possible and also people who’ve never heard his music,” Sora says.
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Khushi Patel is a science fiction author who lives in Austin, Texas. She has published three novels, and her work has been praised for its originality and imagination. Khushi is a graduate of Rice University, and she has worked as a software engineer. She is a member of the Science Fiction Writers of America, and her books have been nominated for several awards.
