Ryuichi Sakamoto: Opus – Film Review 
by Frank L

Director Neo Sora
Star Ryuichi Sakamoto

In this film, Sakamoto plays twenty of his own compositions on a Yamaha grand piano. The performance lasts one hour and forty minutes and takes place in Sakamoto’s favourite studio. He has a lifetime of achievement behind him and now he knows his time is limited. Sakamoto was diagnosed with Cancer and died subsequent to this film in 2023. The director of the piece, Neo Sora, is Sakamoto’s son.

Sakamoto wanted to play one final concert. His physical condition was such that he did not have the strength to perform in person a full-length concert. He approached Sora, his son. They devised the idea of making a film of him performing at the piano.

He chose the set list of the twenty pieces. The order in which they were to be heard was influenced by the trajectory of the film from night to light and back to night again. Filming took place over 8 days with approximately three takes of each piece. At one point, Sora chose an imperfect take even though there was a subsequent perfect take. It is part of the film’s intimacy.

The film is in black and white. However, there is remarkable visual diversity that Sora extracts from the stark location. There is Sakamoto himself with his straight long hair and trade mark glasses. There are his hands as they move across the keyboard of the Yamaha. There is the keyboard itself which uncompromisingly proclaims its blackness and whiteness. There are geometric shapes which the open lid of the Yamaha provides when filmed at various angles. There is the pattern of the acoustic wall of the studio when it combines with the variations in the lighting to realise a series of vast Mondrian-esque murals. In short, this is a visually enchanting film. The cinematographer Bill Kirstein and his crew have created a sumptuous world within this limited space.

The visual diversity is but a backdrop to Sakamoto playing his own compositions. The keyboard has been a haven throughout his life. He started to play the piano at 3 years of age and it became part of his being. There is a unique contemplative calm that imbues the film.  He is entirely at home as he plays. He generously permits you to enter and it is a privilege. It is an innovative farewell to the world.