Photos: SAKAMOTO ON SCREEN, PORTRAITS OF AN ARTIST to Open at Metrograph

Metrograph presents Sakamoto on Screen, Portraits of an Artist, beginning September 26 at Metrograph In Theater.

As HarperCollins prepares to publish the first English-language translation of Ryuichi Sakamoto's Music Sets You Free, which combines his twin autobiographical tomes Music Sets You Free and How Many More Times Will I Watch the Full Moon Rise? into a single volume, the series pays homage to the artist with a quartet of cinematic portraits: Ryuichi Sakamoto: Diaries, Ryuichi Sakamoto | Opus, Ryuichi Sakamoto: Coda, and a new restoration of Elizabeth Lennard's 1985 collage film Tokyo Melody: A Film about Ryuichi Sakamoto, in which at various points the artist is seen on-stage with Yellow Magic Orchestra, in the studio recording Illustrated Musical Encyclopedia, and out and about in the streets of Tokyo.

Sakamoto on Screen, Portraits of an Artist runs from September 26 to October 2, with select encore screenings to follow. Titles include Ryuichi Sakamoto: Coda, Ryuichi Sakamoto: Diaries, Ryuichi Sakamoto | Opus, and Tokyo Melody.

There will be a special introduction by writer/musician Paul Grimstad on Saturday, September 26 for Tokyo Melody, and a Q&A with cinematographer Bill Kirstein and producer Albert Tholen following Ryuichi Sakamoto | Opus on Sunday, September 27, moderated by filmmaker Kogonada.

Ryuichi Sakamoto: CODA

dir. Stephen Nomura Schible, 2017, 100 min, DCP. A precious glimpse into the creative process of the late synth-pop star, film composer, and activist Ryuichi Sakamoto, Schible's deeply affecting film picks up with its introspective subject as he returns to music-making after having been diagnosed with cancer, channeling his new awareness of his mortality into his latest work.

Ryuichi Sakamoto: DIARIES

dir. Kensho Omori, 2025, 96 min, 4K DCP. An extension of Omori's short Ryuichi Sakamoto: Last Days, made in close collaboration with Sakamoto's family, Diaries is an intimate portrait of the subject over the three and a half years following his diagnosis with terminal cancer, shown in archival footage and original material at his New York home, receiving regular chemotherapy treatments in hospital, and continuing through all trials and tribulations his creative work, with longtime friend Min Tanaka heard reading passages from Sakamoto's journal. A film about living with a finite number of hours ahead that, remarkably, is something other than a doleful threnody; its credits roll to a 1981 song that Sakamoto wrote and performed with Yellow Magic Orchestra: 'Happy End.' US premiere.

Ryuichi Sakamoto | OPUS

dir. Neo Sora, 2023, 103 min, DCP. His health failing, some six months before his death Sakamoto sat down before a Yamaha grand piano under the direction of his son, Sora, and gave a final command performance before the camera, a career-spanning 20-song set encompassing his time with Yellow Magic Orchestra (a new arrangement of 'Tang Poo'), songs heard here for the first time ('BB,' a tribute to Bernardo Bertolucci), and soundtrack compositions for films ('The Last Emperor' and 'The Sheltering Sky,' both for none other than 'BB'), video games ('Lack of Love'), and even television commercials ('Aubade 2020'). A singularly elegiac concert film, almost hypnotic in its stripped-down simplicity. Q&A with cinematographer Bill Kirstein and producer Albert Tholen moderated by filmmaker Kogonada on Sunday, September 27.

TOKYO MELODY

dir. Elizabeth Lennard, 1985, 62 min, DCP. In 1984, American-born, Paris-based artist Elizabeth Lennard traveled to Japan to make a film for French television about Ryuichi Sakamoto, pop star, solo artist, film actor, and film score composer. The result, shot over the course of a frenetic week, was Tokyo Melody, a mosaic work whose structure appears to have been determined by the multi-faceted nature of its subject's creative practice: at various points we see Sakamoto snapping photographs, cruising through Tokyo on foot or via limousine, performing onstage with Yellow Magic Orchestra, pottering around his house, and in the studio for the recording of his Illustrated Musical Encyclopedia. Made so long after his collaboration with Nagisa Ōshima on Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence, Lennard's scintillating film, now in a new 4K restoration, captures a pivotal juncture in an extraordinary life. Introduction by writer/musician Paul Grimstad on Saturday, September 26.

MUSIC SETS YOU FREE

Written by Ryuichi Sakamoto, translated by Sam Bett, published by HarperVia.

A bestseller in Japan, a remarkable reflection on making art, living life, and accepting death, from the legendary Ryuichi Sakamoto, the world-renowned musical genius and godfather of electronic music. One of Japan's most influential artists and composers, Ryuichi Sakamoto was a man of multitudes. Perhaps best known as the Oscar-winning composer of Bernardo Bertolucci's The Last Emperor and a founder of the groundbreaking electronic music group Yellow Magic Orchestra, Sakamoto was a pop icon, an avant-garde visionary, a techno innovator, and a proud environmentalist. While his unique brilliance transcended mediums as well as borders, Sakamoto himself was curious about how he came to be the complex phenomenon known as 'Ryuichi Sakamoto'—a journey to answer the question, 'Why do I lead this life?'

Filled with candid photos, Music Sets You Free is the incredible chronicle of a life excitingly lived: an intimate, contemplative, and fascinating recounting of his life story as a musical journey, from his first childhood encounter with a piano to his rise as a global pop star and award-winning composer. Sakamoto's boundless curiosity led to myriad experiences: producing catchy yet experimental hits with YMO, starring with David Bowie in Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence, collaborating with pop geniuses such as David Byrne, Iggy Pop, and Brian Wilson, appearing in a Madonna music video, and even modeling for the Gap.

Throughout his career, Sakamoto was also a dedicated social activist, avidly protesting nuclear power in the wake of the Fukushima disaster, and restoring a tsunami-damaged piano for his 2017 album async. While the pain of surgeries and treatments left him both emotionally and physically vulnerable in his later life, Sakamoto pushed through the pain to record his final artistic evolution into more avant-garde work after a transformative trip to Greenland during which he witnessed the effects of global warming first-hand.

Music Sets You Free is both a self-reflective testament and thought-provoking meditation on life, mortality, and the enduring power of art. It is the memoir of a visionary whose life and work embodied the aphorism Ars Longa, Vita Brevis ('Art is long, life is short'). The final published work from a creative genius, it is a rare and lasting performance in words that beautifully accompanies Sakamoto's eternal, moving performances in music.