035. もののけ姫 / Princess Mononoke (Japan - 1997)

I had watched some bits of the film in another occasion, and had dropped it before the ending due to... well, hurrying up to do something else, I guess. And what a stupid bastard I was in doing that! Princess Mononoke is such a touching, absolutely wonderful film in many regards! Art, sound, linearity, the way the plotline sequence deals with the innovative strategy of mixing up fantasy and anti-industrialist themes... it's just a mouthful of audiovisual delight. Whilst watching the piece, I couldn't help but let tears well in my eyes, and they welled in full honesty of feelings. 'Mononoke forces you to consider both sides of environmentalist causes, dramas, struggles. And you go with the flow, as the film gently takes you with the struggle for survival of its ill-fated characters. A prominent characteristic of Miyazaki's animations. Genial.

Director: Hayao Miyazaki.

Score

Cinematography: 9.0

Voice Acting: 7.5
Editing: 9.0
Text: 8.5
Sound: 9.5
Conception: 10.0 (first time in all of Filmic Jeran thus far)
Premise Execution: 9.5

Average Score: 9.0

022. Barry Lyndon (United Kingdom - 1975)

An anti-epic, a brilliant story. A man is born in a fairly well-off family, and grows to be less and less proud of his background and his own merits. He kills an officer (a faked death by his tutors) and has to flee from his hometown and join the British army. A cruel and sometimes comedic adaptation of the picaresque The Luck of Barry Lyndon, by William M. Thackeray, it can be deceiving in showing the direction of Barry's misfortunes and joys. He is betrayed by hiw own foolishness and greed, and oftentimes finds himself in positions of moral dichotomy and mishandling of the power he is granted. A clever, sometimes laughable story of a privileged, mischievous young man. And here Kubrick shines in his eye for cinematography and sound. Although acting is not really big in Barry Lyndon, it obeys its own logic to the very end. Bravo.

Director: Stanley Kubrick.

Score (note: two new categories are being included here to enhance the judging patters - Concept and Execution)

Cinematography: 9.5
Acting: 7.0
Editing: 9.5
Sound: 9.5
Text: 9.0
Concept: 8.0
Premise execution: 8.5

Average Score: 8.7