In all the talk of Oscar snubs, one name forgotten was
that of the master composer Ryuichi Sakamoto. The Leopard become aware of the
brilliant musician from the soundtrack of The Bertolucci film The Last Emperor,
a collaboration between he and David Byrne, where some of the most beautiful themes
were Sakamoto’s own. Going back, I
discovered that Sakamoto was part of Japan’s early pop electronic music scene, and an integral part of the influential band Yellow Magic Orchestra (or YMO). The
ambitious musician went on to become a solo artist, creating innovative music
in all manner of genres - electronic, jazz, classical, which led to his scoring
the soundtrack to the film Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence to international
acclaim. His latest project, co-composer
of the multi-nominated The Revenant was another triumph last year. Up against
the stiff completion of the return of Ennio Morricone for The Hateful Eight and
John Williams for Star Wars The Force Awakens, his superb work unfortunately went
unnoticed by the academy. Pity the fools.
