Product Description
Released 11th December 2024. In his final years, Ryuichi Sakamoto used his last albums to confirm his legacy, document the passage of time and a lifetime spent playing the piano. He wanted to perform a concert one last time, but as he was too weak to perform an entire concert, he presented it as a methodically compiled film. Sakamoto asked his son, Neo Sora, a filmaker, like his father, based between Tokyo and New York, to direct the project titled 'Opus'. Being his son, Sora had unique access to capture his father at his most vulnerable, just six months before his death, aged 71 in March 2023. Opus was filmed and recorded over eight days in September of 2022, at Studio 509 at the NHK Broadcast Centre, where Sakamoto used to host a radio show in the 1980s. He played an average of three songs a day, with between one to five takes of each. A beautiful and moving document.
The film is an intimate portrait in black and white. The film studies his fingers, facial features and he plays 20 songs from throughout his life. These include a slow version of Tong Poo, the first of his songs to be recorded by Yellow Magic Orchestra, Merry Christmas Mr Laawrence and from his final album '12'. Inspired by his father's fascination with time, the film takes its course through a day, depicted through lighting choices.
1. Lack of Love
2. BB
3. Andata
4. Solitude
5. for Jóhann
6. Aubade 2020
7. Ichimei - small happiness
8. Mizu no Naka no Bagatelle
9. Bibo no Aozora
10. Aqua
11. Tong Poo
12. The Wuthering Heights
13. 20220302 - sarabande
14. The Sheltering Sky
15. 20180219 (w/prepared piano)
16. The Last Emperor
17. Trioon
18. Happy End
19. Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence
20. Opus - ending
Bonus Content
21. Improvisation on Little Buddha Theme
