Ryuichi Sakamoto: Coda (2017)

A portrait of genius music composer Ryuichi Sakamoto.

Director:

Stephen Nomura Schible (as Stephen Schible)

Stars:

Yellow Magic Orchestra, Ryuichi Sakamoto

8 nominations.

Cast

Credited cast:
Yellow Magic Orchestra	...	Themselves (archive footage)
Ryuichi Sakamoto	...	Self

Storyline

From techno-pop stardom to Oscar-winning film composer, the evolution of Ryuichi Sakamoto's music has coincided with his life journeys. Following Fukushima, Sakamoto became an iconic figure in Japan's social movement against nuclear power. As Sakamoto returns to music following a cancer diagnosis, his haunting awareness of life crises leads to a resounding new masterpiece. RYUICHI SAKAMOTO: CODA is an intimate portrait of both the artist and the man.

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Plot Keywords:

portrait | composer | 2011 tohoku earthquake | cancer | film music | 

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Taglines:

Portrait of Ryuichi Sakamoto, from pop icon of Japan's technological aspirations to leading activist post-Fukushima, returning to music after cancer for major opus that may be his last.

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Genres:

Documentary | Music

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Did You Know?

Trivia

The film was part of the line-up at the Toronto Japanese Film Festival in Toronto in 2018.

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Connections

Features Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence (1983)

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Soundtracks

Tsunami Piano - 01/04/2012
Written and performed by Ryuichi Sakamoto

User Reviews

An Existential Reflection Explored Through Sound

"The piano doesn't sustain sound. Left alone, the sound attenuates and disappears. Perpetual sound is... essentially the opposite of piano, because the notes never fade. I suppose in literary terms, it would be like a metaphor for eternity."

In confronting his (and our) mortality, Ryuichi Sakamoto meditates on the perpetuity of music that overlays the finality to his existence.

"Music... requires peace."

Sakamoto finds a special purity in the trees as he wanders the forest, in the ice caves as he peers under glaciers, in a Tsunami-surviving piano left "retuned by nature", absorbing the world as his soundstage.

Such is an artist's mind.

Details

Official Sites:

Official site [Japan] Official site [United States]

Country:

Japan USA

Language:

Japanese English

Release Date:

14 June 2018 (South Korea)

Also Known As:

Ryuichi Sakamoto: Coda

Filming Locations:

New York, USA

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$12,827, 8 July 2018

Gross USA:

$117,460

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$962,850

Company Credits

Production Co:

AVROTROS, Avex Digital (ADG), Borderland Media

Technical Specs

Runtime:

100 min

Color:

Color