Ryuichi Sakamoto/Alva Noto/Bryce Dessner
Original Soundtrack “The Revenant”

 


Written by: Toshihiro Ikeda (TOWER RECORDS JAPAN)

 

(C)2015 Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

 

“Tranquility and the Space In-between” - Ryuichi Sakamoto depicts the world of Alejandro G. Iñárritu with music

Film director Alejandro G. Iñárritu became well known worldwide for his talent with his first feature film “Amores Perros” in 2000. In 2006, he made quite a wave in Japan with “Babel,” in which Japanese actors and actresses such as Koji Yakusho and Rinko Kikuchi played some of the main roles in the scenes set in Tokyo. And in 2014, “Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)” became the most nominated film for both the Golden Globe Awards and the Academy Award, which in the latter, won the most Oscars nabbing four statues. While the world pays great attention to what he has in store, Iñárritu has released his new film “The Revenant” (which is scheduled to be released in April in Japan). 

坂本龍一,ALVA NOTO,BRYCE DESSNER The Revenant commmons(2016)

※ Click here to listen

He has publicly proclaimed being a big fan of Ryuichi Sakamoto as seen in the aforementioned “Babel,” in which Iñárritu used Sakamoto’s work titled “Bibo No Aozora (meaning Beautiful Blue Sky)” in the last scene. This time, his passionate appeal has borne fruit being able to fix up Sakamoto to undertake the film scoring for the entire film. Bryce Dessner, the musician whom Iñárritu puts his big trust in, also joins. Since there are relatively few lines throughout the movie, instead of words, images and music play critically important roles in depicting the storyline. It seems like Iñárritu asked Sakamoto to fuse acoustic music with electronic music by weaving them together and making several layers of sounds, and I have a feeling that Sakamoto immediately thought of appointing as his partner, Alva Noto, who has has been collaborating with Sakamoto for years and produced a number of albums in their joint name. 

Alva Noto’s finely honed electronic sounds, the tension created by the minimal melodies in the tunes orchestrated by Sakamoto and Dessner, and the peaceful soundscape together portray the peculiar environment placed in the middle of grand nature that could even make us lose the sense of time. Based on the fact-inspired novel by Michael Punke, starred by Leonardo DiCaprio, and most nominated for the Oscars with 12 nominations, “The Revenant” is the film that everyone is talking about, and once again, Sakamoto is seen playing a huge role in an epic work. As much as the film itself, please enjoy the music carefully created by Sakamoto that is magnificent, but also depicts tranquility and the delicate spaces in between.

 


CINEMA INFORMATION

『The Revenant』
Director:Alejandro González Iñárritu
Music:Ryuichi Sakamoto
Cast:Leonardo DiCaprio/Tom Hardy/Domhnall Gleeson/Will Poulter

◎In nationwide theaters from April 22nd (Friday)
www.foxmovies-jp.com/revenant