Sakamoto Ryuichi (坂本 龍一)​ was one of Japan's most prominent musicians, composers and producers whose music transcended borders and nationalities. He achieved his international visibility by scoring for the film "Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence," directed by Oshima Nagisa (​大島 渚​) in 1983. The hypnotic soundtrack immediately won him a BAFTA for best film music. The award-winning score contained a Sakamoto/David Sylvian composition Forbidden Colours, a vocal version of the film's main theme, which was a Top 20 hit in Britain.

Mr. Sakamoto won an Academy Award (along with composers David Byrne and Cong Su) for his soundtrack to Bernardo Bertolucci's The Last Emperor (1987). He worked with the director again on The Sheltering Sky (1990) and Little Buddha (1993). Oliver Stone hired him for the soundtrack to his TV series Wild Palms (1993). Alejandro González Iñárritu used some of his existing recordings in his 2006 film Babel, then recruited him to write the score for The Revenant (2015). He also composed for the opening of the 1992 Barcelona Olympics El Mar Mediterrani​.

Dubbed as "Professor" by his Chinese fans, Sakamoto was revered in China for both his accomplishments in music as well as his anti-nuclear advocacy. In 2020 he scored for Ann Hui​ (许鞍华）'s film "Love After Love", an adaptation of Eileen Chang's novel "Aloeswood Incense: The First Brazier", which won him the Best Original Score award at the 40th Hong Kong Film Festival. His death on March 28, 2023 drove a massive outpouring of grief in Hong Kong where he would have performed a live concert in 2020 if it was not for the covid-19 pandemic.

To pay homage to such a distinguished artist from Asia the RAS Film Club is to screen "Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence" on September 13, 2023. In addition to creating its music scores Mr. Sakamoto starred in the film as the Japanese POW camp officer Captain Yonoi alongside David Bowie​ depicting the British soldier Jack Celliers. The stellar cast also features actor-director Takeshi Kitano (北野 武)​ in his first dramatic role and Tom Conti​ as the British Colonel Lawrence. The film entered into the 1983 Cannes Film Festival in competition for the Palme d'Or.

We hope you will join us!