‘It was his idea’: Ryuichi Sakamoto’s son on Opus, posthumous performance film that premiered at Venice Film Festival and which he directed

Unable to tour as he fought the cancer that ultimately ended his life, Ryuichi Sakamoto instead shot Opus, a film in which he performs 20 of his pieces on piano

As the film premiered at Venice, its director, Sakamoto’s son Neo Sora, spoke to the Post about ‘challenges’ filming his weakened father, and spreading his music

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Ryuichi Sakamoto plays piano in “Ryuichi Sakamoto | Opus”, in which the late Japanese musician and composer gives fans one final performance of 20 pieces spanning his career. Photo: AP

Published: 4:15pm, 9 Sep 2023

“It wasn’t my idea to do it. It was his idea,” says Neo Sora, the director of Ryuichi Sakamoto | Opus, of his film that captures the great Japanese composer just months before he died, aged 71, in March 2023.

For years, Sakamoto had battled cancer. Undertaking a concert, let alone touring, was out of the question. Opus was a way of bringing his legions of fans one final, memorable performance.

Filmed in black and white, Opus shows Sakamoto at the piano, his music heard in its purest form.

Sora, who is Sakamoto’s son, had previously filmed his father for the 2017 documentary Ryuichi Sakamoto: Coda, which chronicled his life and career.

OPUS | Ryuichi Sakamoto | Directed by Neo Sora | Official Teaser (2023)

“I think our relationship ultimately allowed us to be able to film even though he was very ill … because filming is quite taxing and invasive,” Sora tells the Post in an interview at the 2023 Venice International Film Festival, where the film premiered.