THE FILM
TITLE: Ninety-Five Senses
RELEASE DATE: 12 Aug 2022
WATCH DATE: 07 Feb 2024
TYPE: animated short film
ACCESS: available for free
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THE PEOPLE
DIRECTOR: Jared Hess, Jerusha Hess
ACTORS: Tim Blake Nelson
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THE STORY
RUNTIME: 13min
STORYLINE: an old man in prison shares his life story through the experiences of his five senses
STYLE/GENRE: animation, life reflection, visual
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THE CRITIQUE
THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS
Beautifully crafted animation tells a sad and depressing story. The old man (Tim Blake Nelson) shares his life story using his sensory experiences of touch, taste, smell, sight, and sound. His senses are heavy on his mind because they say when you are dying, you can experience as many as ninety-five senses. And this is the day when his death sentence is to be carried out. Each sensory experience he shares is illustrated with a different animation style - creative genius.
Through his story, we learn why he is in prison and the other tough life experiences he had as a child and young man. Compassion is stirred up for this poor man… and it makes me think about the life experiences - good, bad, ugly - that anyone else has had to get them to today. My life experiences. My life choices. A ten-minute animated film makes me ponder life. That’s the power of film.
Still, I found myself depressed, having been brought through the highs of color and sensory experiences to been then brought to the very lowest point of looming death. I found it conflicting, to have such a depressing story… one that perhaps needs to be told… told by such vibrant and visually engaging animation. Perhaps though… this contrast is precisely what the filmmakers were intending. If so, they nailed it.
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THE RECEPTION
NOMINATIONS
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THE IMPRESSION
IN A SINGLE WORD: depressing
MOST STRIKING ELEMENT: animation styles
REWATCH: no
RATING: 3 // 5 stars (read my review on Letterboxd)
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