Ryuichi Sakamoto: Opus (Film Screening)

Ryuichi Sakamoto's final concert, filmed months before his death. The Japanese composer—who scored The Last Emperor, Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence, and The Revenant—was diagnosed with terminal cancer in 2021. In September 2022, knowing he didn't have long, he performed twenty of his compositions in a Tokyo studio, alone at a grand piano. The result is Opus: a film that's as much meditation as concert. Director Neo Sora frames Sakamoto in black and white, alternating between close-ups of his hands and wide shots that emphasize the emptiness of the room. There's no audience. No applause. Just music and silence. The selections span his entire career—YMO synth experiments, Oscar-winning film themes, the ambient pieces that defined his final years. Knowing this was goodbye, he chose pieces that mattered to him rather than the hits people expected. Film Forum is screening the Japanese theatrical cut with an introduction from music journalist Philip Sherburne.