INDEX
Behind the Music: Quotes and Song Selection from the First and Final Concert Film
The film features performances of pieces like “Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence” and “The Sheltering Sky,” as well as tracks from the album “12.” How were these selections made?
Omori: Rather than consciously choosing specific pieces, we followed the timeline of Sakamoto’s journals, using the pieces he was performing or composing at the time. For “12,” the track titles correspond to the dates they were created, so the music naturally aligned with the chronology in the film.
As for why we selected “The Sheltering Sky” from the 20 tracks on “Ryuichi Sakamoto | Opus,” it’s partly because of the symbolism in the poem by Paul Bowles, the author of the original story behind the film. Visually, the piece works beautifully too — the camera moves in a sweeping, almost circling motion toward the end of the performance, creating a striking cinematic moment. Musically, I also feel it stands as one of the peaks of Sakamoto’s work.
Note: The poem reflects on the unpredictability of life and death, imagining life as a never-ending fountain yet counting only a limited number of full moons one might see. These lines appear in Bernardo Bertolucci’s film “The Sheltering Sky” (1990), were quoted by Sakamoto in the narration of “fullmoon” on his 2017 album ”async”, and inspired the title of his later memoir, “How Many More Full Moons Will I See?.” The same phrase is also quoted at the beginning of “Diaries.”
Omori: There was some debate among the staff about “The Sheltering Sky,” since it’s a relatively long piece. Some suggested a quieter track like “aqua” or a more well-known piece like “The Last Emperor” might work better.
In the end, choosing “The Sheltering Sky” gained the approval of Sakamoto’s family, and the selection felt truly necessary for the film. Personally, I also thought it was the best choice, so in that sense, my own judgment is reflected in it as well.
