POP Montreal: September 22-26, 2021
Film POP and The Japan Foundation present:
No Smoking Sado Taketoshi | Japan | 2019 | 96 min
A fitting tribute to an indispensable body of work, No Smoking commemorates the 50-year career of Japanese musician, Haruomi Hosono. Hot on the heels of a series of solo album reissues and his lauded score for Hirokazu Kore-eda’s 2018 film Shoplifters, Hosono embarked on an international tour, sharing the stage with the likes of Mac DeMarco and former bandmates Yukihiro Takahashi and Ryuichi Sakamoto. Contemporary live performances are interwoven with off and backstage footage, as well as a trove of archival material documenting Hosono’s early promise as a young musician and subsequent success with the immeasurably influential projects Happy End and Yellow Magic Orchestra. Though reverential to his discography, No Smoking is still most concerned with the man himself, his personal philosophy, and what drives him to keep creating.