Looking Back: Letterboxd’s ‘In Memoriam 2023’ Remembrance Video
by Alex Billington
January 9, 2024
Source: YouTube
So many exceptionally talented people passed away in 2023. Most recently, we lost the superb British actor Tom Wilkinson just one day before the end of the year. Our favorite movie website Letterboxd has created their own special In Memoriam 2023 video this year to celebrate and remember all of these individuals that died. As everyone knows, the Academy Awards also plays their own “In Memoriam” video during the ceremony every year, though they always seem to leave out a few important names. Letterboxd took it upon themselves to make sure most of the important names were included in their video. The movie channel TCM (Turner Classic Movies) also posted a “Remembrance 2023” video as well – which we’ve embedded below to watch in addition to this one from Letterboxd. I’m still really heartbroken about Tom Wilkinson, as well as Lance Reddick, Alan Arkin, Lee Sun-Kyun, Matthew Perry, and William Freidkin. They’ll all be missed. RIP.
Thanks to Letterboxd for the tip on this – posted on their YouTube and social media. This video is edited by Richard Martin. Here is the full list of talent included in this 2023 tribute: Sir Michael Gambon, Lance Reddick, Raquel Welch, Treat Williams, Piper Laurie, Angus Cloud, Jane Birkin, Andre Braugher, Kenneth Anger, Alan Arkin, Tina Turner, Lee Sun-Kyun, Tom Sizemore, Richard Roundtree, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Ryan O’Neal, Harry Belafonte, Tom Wilkinson, Paul Reubens, Glenda Jackson, Matthew Perry, and William Friedkin. I quite like the speech from Gambon in Layer Cake: “You’re born, you take shit. You get out in the world, you take more shit. You climb a little higher, you take less shit. Till one day you’re up in the rarefied atmosphere and you’ve forgotten what shit even looks like. Welcome to the layer cake, son.” I must mention the legendary composer Ryuichi Sakamoto’s final film, a documentary capturing his final live performance called Ryuichi Sakamoto | Opus – this premiered at last year’s Venice Film Festival and will release in 2024.
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