Ryuichi Sakamoto: Coda (2017)

Ryuichi Sakamoto: Coda: Directed by Stephen Nomura Schible. With Yellow Magic Orchestra, Ryuichi Sakamoto. A portrait of genius music composer Ryuichi Sakamoto.

“I am a high school history teacher, and I use this film to give students insight to the way Medieval kings, queens, and princes plotted and schemed with and against one another, how marriages were arranged with political motives, and how the relationships between these self-important royals shaped the history of the time. When I first introduced the films plot to my student, I was met with apathy and predisposed boredom, but they quickly were caught up in the intrigue and plot twists. At each major turn (an impromptu wedding, a surprise revelation about one of the characteru0026#39;s sexuality, etc.), the students were often literally gasping.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eAs for the film itself, I can not think of a movie with more solid acting from the headliners (Ou0026#39;Toole and Hepburn) to the other principal players (Hopkins, Dalton, Terry, and especially Castle), and even the other characters are well cast (Merrow as Alais is not especially solid, but she is at least adequate in her portrayal as u0026quot;the only pawnu0026quot; in this game of kings, queens, and knights). u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eIt is, of course, not to be seen as wholly accurate historically, as it would be near impossible to achieve such for events that took place 800 years ago, but the major themes are true to form, and the film is wonderfully engrossing. Highly recommended!”