Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Neo Sora’s concert documentary “Ryuichi Sakamoto | Opus,” a standout at the Venice Film Festival, has sold for theatrical distribution in North America to Janus Films ahead of its North American premiere at the New York Film Festival. The theatrical release will be followed by a Blu-ray Disc release on the “Janus Contemporaries” label. This is the latest deal inked by London and Paris-based production, finance and sales outfit Film Constellation, following a slew of sales to Spain (Filmin), Portugal (Midas Filmes), Germany and Austria (Rapid Eye), Scandinavia (NjutaFilms), Baltics (Kino Pavasaris), South Korea (Media Castle), China (JL Vision Films), Hong Kong and Macau (Edko Films), Taiwan (Cai Chang) and Singapore (Anticipate Pictures).
‘Ryuichi Sakamoto: Opus’ Review: The ‘Last Emperor’ Composer Gives a Glorious Final Performance
07.09.2023 - 14:03 / variety.com
Todd Gilchrist editor To capture the breadth and depth of the musical career of Japanese composer and recording artist Ryuichi Sakamoto seems impossible, but somehow “Ryuichi Sakamoto: Opus” almost accomplishes this herculean challenge. A document of Sakamoto’s final performance before his death from cancer last march, the film provides no commentary or context for the enormity of his body of work, yet somehow encompasses it all as he performs a curated set list in a Japanese recording studio for an audience of one — himself.
Far more than a showcase of his talent and productivity, “Ryuichi Sakamoto: Opus” lets Sakamoto deliver an elegy, and in the process, an autobiography of his creative journey, as captured through the precision and poetry of director Neo Sora’s camera. Working from a set list personally selected by Sakamoto from his discography, Sora — Sakamoto’s son — recorded his subject’s performances over the span of a week, utilizing lighting setups that would mark a transition from “morning” to “night” in the studio when edited together in the final film.
Far from simply collecting the best or most technically precise of these performances, Sora focuses on Sakamoto’s emotions during each song, including the moments in which he made mistakes or worked through the new or different renditions he hoped to create for many of his most famous works. Sakamoto definitely does not refrain from “playing the hits,” so to speak, but the way he plays them results in a new experience, no matter how familiar you may be with their previous iterations.
Among the scores or songs included are cues from “The Last Emperor,” “The Sheltering Sky” and “Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence,” as well as material from his days as a member of
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