Ryuichi Sakamoto’s legacy as a composer for film score is evident in the works of many internationally acclaimed film directors. Last year, M+ Cinema offered screenings of Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence (1983), directed by Nagisa Oshima, and The Last Emperor (1987), directed by Bernardo Bertolucci. Sakamoto was the first Japanese recipient of the Academy Award for Best Original Score and received many more prestigious honours throughout his career, in recognition of his natural sensibility and virtuosity in adapting across the worlds of cinema and music. After making his debut with the album Thousand Knives (1978), Sakamoto became a pioneering figure on the international stage. He started releasing cutting-edge electronic works in the techno group Yellow Magic Orchestra, producing pop albums and numerous classical compositions, two operas, and over 40 original film and TV scores.

As a prelude to the M+ exhibition, Ryuichi Sakamoto | seeing sound, hearing time, M+ Cinema will feature Ryuichi Sakamoto: OPUS (2023), directed by the late composer’s son, the filmmaker Neo Sora. The concert film ephemerally captures his father’s final performances of 20 songs through a minimalist monochrome lens. Meanwhile, personal footage of Sakamoto’s career-defining moments, travels, and music experiments in his home studio are revealed in CODA (2017). In continuation of the Sakamoto season, M+ Cinema will spotlight on a younger Sakamoto in his early 30s, who appeared in Elizabeth Lennard’s documentary Tokyo Melody: A Film about Ryuichi Sakamoto (1985). The official programme will shed light on Sakamoto’s genre-bending music compositions in Pedro Almodovar’s High Heels (1991) and Masanori Hata’s The Adventures of Chatran (1986).