![]() ![]() They’d showed at the same time as an exhibition by Berenice Abbott, which also had a title about New York. I showed Sakamoto photographs I’d taken of New York and painted, some of which I’d exhibited at the Pompidou Center. I had only made two short films at that point, one about these pianists called the Labèque sisters. I remember waiting for him to come out of the recording studio - it was right next to the Berlin Wall - because they were in the middle of recording. ![]() We agreed to meet in Berlin, where he was recording Forbidden Colors with David Sylvian. In New York I ran into someone I worked for in the ’70s who introduced me to Kiki Miyake, who worked with YMO on a US tour. But I knew people in the music business - before living in France, I painted album covers. They said that if I could find a way to meet Sakamoto, they could produce an hour-long film about him. They had a deal with a broadcaster to do a few hours of programming about popular music. Lawrence at the Cannes Film Festival, there happened to be two producers from the experimental part of French television. Lawrence to this film happening?Įlizabeth Lennard: I was quite young then. Hyperallergic: What was the timeline from you seeing Merry Christmas, Mr. This interview has been edited and condensed for length and clarity. Ahead of this event, I connected with Lennard over Zoom to discuss the film and her memories of Sakamoto. Both Yano and Lennard will be present at Japan Society’s screening, with Yano providing an introduction and Lennard sitting down for a Q&A afterward. This screening comes not long after Sakamoto’s death in March of this year, making this look back at him in his prime all the more poignant. Lawrence theme on the piano, and sits down for a duet with his wife of the time, the famed jazz musician Akiko Yano. Memorably, he performs the Merry Christmas, Mr. Interviews are minimal, and Sakamoto plays with his instruments much more than he talks. As the title suggests, the doc is not just a look at the man but also something of a city symphony, taking a great deal of time to explore Tokyo, with his music acting as a mood setter. His work was emblematic of his era, especially 1980s electronic music, but also felt beamed from the future. Tokyo Melody opens with a quote from Claude Debussy: “I’m working on things that will only be understood by the grandchildren of the 20th century.” That sentiment ably captures the mystique of Sakamoto’s persona, which Lennard also vividly records here. Sakamoto’s score is one of the richest orchestrations ever rendered for a film, particularly its now-famous main theme. Amid the somber camp, thick with both humidity and testosterone, the two men stand out for their startling androgynous beauty. The film is compelling not just because of Ōshima’s perfect observations of the interplay between masculine repression and psychosexual tension against the backdrop of war, but also for bringing together Sakamoto and Bowie, two pop icons at the height of their stardom. He plays Captain Yonoi, the commandant of a Japanese prisoner of war camp in Java during World War II, who is torn between his iron devotion to duty and his attraction to Jack Celliers, a British prisoner played by David Bowie. Lawrence (1983), for which he also composed his first soundtrack. The documentary was conceived after Sakamoto’s acting debut in Nagisa Ōshima’s Merry Christmas, Mr. Beyond its initial airing and appearances at a few film festivals, it has been almost impossible to access legally in the decades since. Directed by photographer and director Elizabeth Lennard and produced as a collaboration between French and Japanese television, the hour-long film follows the famed experimental musician during the recording of his 1984 album Ongaku Zukan (“Music Encyclopedia”). Ryuichi Sakamoto at Meiji Park in Tokyo Melody (all images © Elizabeth Lennard courtesy Elizabeth Lennard)Īs part of this year’s Japan Cuts film festival, New York’s Japan Society is offering both movie and music lovers an extraordinary opportunity: a 16mm screening of the 1985 documentary Tokyo Melody: A Film about Ryuichi Sakamoto. ![]()
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