Editing Ryuichi Sakamoto (section)

==Film career==
[[File:2011-05-29 ryuichi sakamoto (37581571004).jpg|thumb|353x353px|Sakamoto performing in Germany in 2011]]

Sakamoto began working in films, as a composer and actor, in [[Nagisa Oshima]]'s ''[[Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence|Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence]]'' (1983), where he starred alongside [[David Bowie]]. The film's score is best known for Sakamoto's "[[Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence (instrumental)|Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence]]" instrumental theme. He collaborated with [[David Sylvian]] on a vocal version of the theme, "[[Forbidden Colours]]"–which became a chart hit in the UK.<ref>{{Cite web |title=David Sylvian and Riuichi Sakamoto {{!}} full Official Chart History|url=https://www.officialcharts.com/artist/20654/david-sylvian-and-riuichi-sakamoto/ |access-date=March 29, 2022 |website=www.officialcharts.com}}</ref> In a 2016 interview, Sakamoto reflected on his time acting in the film, saying he "hung out" with Bowie every evening for a month while filming on location. He remembered Bowie as "straightforward" and "nice" while lamenting that he never mustered the courage to ask for Bowie's help while scoring the film's soundtrack as he believed Bowie was too "concentrated" on acting.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Bowe|first1=Miles|title=Ryuichi Sakamoto reflects on his unique time with David Bowie|url=http://www.factmag.com/2016/01/13/ryuichi-sakamoto-david-bowie/|website=[[Fact (UK magazine)|Fact]]|publisher=[[The Vinyl Factory]]|access-date=January 18, 2016|date=January 13, 2016}}</ref>

He was the subject of Elizabeth Lennard's 1985 documentary ''[[Tokyo Melody]]'', which mixes studio footage and interviews with Sakamoto about his musical philosophy in a nonlinear format, against a backdrop of 1980s Tokyo. Sakamoto later composed [[Bernardo Bertolucci]]'s ''[[The Last Emperor]]'' (1987), which earned him an [[Academy Award]] and [[Grammy Award]] with fellow composers [[David Byrne (musician)|David Byrne]] and [[Cong Su]]. In that same year, Sakamoto composed the score to the cult-classic [[anime]] film ''[[Royal Space Force: The Wings of Honneamise|Royal Space Force: The Wings of Honnêamise]]''.<ref name=":1" />

Other films scored by Sakamoto include Bertolucci's ''[[The Sheltering Sky (film)|The Sheltering Sky]]'' (1990) and ''[[Little Buddha|The Little Buddha]]'' (1993); [[Pedro Almodóvar]]'s ''[[High Heels (1991 film)|High Heels]]'' (1991);<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |title=Ryuichi Sakamoto |url=https://www2.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2ba11544ce |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180114201442/http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2ba11544ce |url-status=dead |archive-date=January 14, 2018 |access-date=2023-04-04 |website=BFI}}</ref> [[Oliver Stone]]'s ''[[Wild Palms]]'' (1993);<ref>{{Cite web |last=Tucker |first=Ken |date=1993-05-14 |title=Wild Palms |url=http://ew.com/article/1993/05/14/wild-palms/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170905094545/http://ew.com/article/1993/05/14/wild-palms/ |archive-date=2017-09-05 |access-date=2023-04-04 |website=Entreteniment Weekly}}</ref> [[John Maybury]]'s ''[[Love Is the Devil: Study for a Portrait of Francis Bacon]]'' (1998); [[Brian De Palma]]'s ''[[Snake Eyes (1998 film)|Snake Eyes]]'' (1998) and ''[[Femme Fatale (2002 film)|Femme Fatale]]'' (2002); Oshima's ''[[Gohatto]]'' (1999); [[Jun Ichikawa]]'s (director of the Mitsui ReHouse commercial from 1997 to 1999 starring [[Chizuru Ikewaki]] and [[Mao Inoue]]) ''[[Tony Takitani]]'' (2005);,<ref name=":2" /> [[Hwang Dong-hyuk]]'s, ''[[The Fortress (2017 film)|The Fortress]]'' (2017); and Andrew Levitas's ''[[Minamata (film)|Minamata]]'' (2020) starring [[Johnny Depp]], [[Minami Hinase|Minami]], and [[Bill Nighy]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Ryuichi Sakamoto: Minamata – Soundtrack |url=https://milanrecords.com/release/minamata/ |access-date=2023-04-04 |website=Milan Records |language=en-US}}</ref>

Several tracks from Sakamoto's earlier solo albums have also appeared in film soundtracks. In particular, variations of "Chinsagu No Hana" (from ''Beauty'') and "Bibo No Aozora" (from ''1996'') provide the poignant closing pieces for Sue Brooks's ''[[Japanese Story]]'' (2003) and [[Alejandro González Iñárritu]]'s ''[[Babel (film)|Babel]]'' (2006), respectively.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Japanese Story Soundtrack (2003) |url=https://www.soundtrack.net/album/japanese-story/ |access-date=2023-04-04 |website=[[Soundtrack.Net]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.soundtrack.net/album/babel/|title=Babel Soundtrack (2006)|publisher=[[Soundtrack.Net]]|access-date=25 October 2015}}</ref> In 2015, Sakamoto teamed up with Iñárritu to score his film, ''[[The Revenant (2015 film)|The Revenant]]'', starring [[Leonardo DiCaprio]] and [[Tom Hardy]].<ref name="FMR" /> The film ''[[Monster (2023 Japanese film)|Monster]]'' by director [[Hirokazu Kore-eda]], released in 2023, was Sakamoto's final score; the film is dedicated to his memory.<ref>{{cite magazine|last=Rooney|first=David|date=17 May 2023|title='Monster' Review: Hirokazu Kore-eda Measures the Weight of Bullying on Childhood Friendship in Tender But Diffuse Drama|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-reviews/monster-review-hirokazu-kore-eda-1235494246/|magazine=[[The Hollywood Reporter]]|access-date=14 October 2023}}</ref>

According to ''[[Resident Advisor]]'', Sakamoto's classical compositions were influential in helping to define [[modern classical music]].<ref name="RA"/> Sakamoto's classical compositions{{mdash}}especially "Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence" and "Bibi no Aozara"{{mdash}}have been [[Cover version|covered]] and [[Sampling (music)|sampled]] by numerous musicians.<ref>{{cite web |title=Songs that Sampled Ryuichi Sakamoto |url=https://www.whosampled.com/Ryuichi-Sakamoto/sampled/ |website=[[WhoSampled]] |access-date=6 March 2025}}</ref>

Sakamoto also acted in several films: perhaps his most notable performance was as the conflicted Captain Yonoi in ''Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence'', alongside [[Takeshi Kitano]] and British rock singer [[David Bowie]]. He also played roles in ''[[The Last Emperor]]'' (as [[Masahiko Amakasu]]) and [[Madonna]]'s "[[Rain (Madonna song)|Rain]]" music video.<ref name=":1">{{Cite news |last=St. Michel |first=Patrick |date=2023-04-23 |title=Ryuichi Sakamoto, trailblazing musician and film composer, dies at 71 |work=[[The Japan Times]] |url=https://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2023/04/03/music/ryuichi-sakamoto-dies/?cx_testId=9&cx_testVariant=cx_undefined&cx_artPos=0&cx_experienceId=EXOMNZ2EQYK1#cxrecs_s}}</ref><ref name=":2" />