Ryuichi Sakamoto | Opus (2023) (Janus Contemporaries, s/w, Criterion Collection)

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A celebration of an artist’s life in the purest sense, Ryuichi Sakamoto | Opus is the swan song of one of the world’s greatest musicians. As a parting gift, just months before his death in 2023, Sakamoto mustered all of his energy to leave us with one final performance: a concert film featuring just him and a piano, directed by his son, Neo Sora. Curated and sequenced by Sakamoto himself, the twenty of his pieces played in the film wordlessly tell the story of his life and his wide-ranging oeuvre. The selection spans his entire career, from his pop-star period with Yellow Magic Orchestra and his magnificent scores for filmmakers Bernardo Bertolucci and Nagisa Oshima to his meditative final album, 12. Captured in intimate black and white, and surrounded by trusted collaborators, Sakamoto bares his soul through his exquisitely haunting melodies, knowing that this was the last time he would be able to present his art.