The Danes and Germans have a good line in arts documentaries that find an artist or craftsman at their trade, unpretentiously making the motions that have been repeated throughout a career: a bookbinder, an urban planner, a skateboarder, a chef. Docs like these don’t dwell on creating a full (and likely fulsome) portrait, but on work as it is made, life as it is breathed. Stephen Nomura Schible’s “Ryuichi Sakamoto: Coda” partakes of that style to compelling result, of covering small parcels rather than vast acreage, catching up with the prolific Japanese composer making new work after a cancer diagnosis.
Schible began shooting in 2012, and also uses carefully selected archival bits. Sakamoto’s music, not limited to his pop and Oscar-winning film scores, has a distinct presence, as does Sakamoto, captured in moments of contemplation and composition. Intimate, thoughtful, often lyrical, “Coda” is about simply being, being simply Sakamoto. Schible allows Sakamoto, a charismatic, charming presence, to gently thrill as he quests for, then discovers a sound, living eternally, entirely in the instant we are witnessing. The keyboard lives. (Ray Pride)
“Ryuichi Sakamoto: Coda” opens Friday, July 27 at Facets.
Ray Pride is Newcity’s Senior Editor and Film Critic. He is a contributing editor of Filmmaker magazine.
Ray’s history of Chicago Ghost Signs is planned for publication next year. Previews of the project are on Twitter and on Instagram. More photography on Instagram.
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