Miyazaki earns seventh because animation belongs in the same artistic contest as live action. Begin with Spirited Away (2001), whose young heroine enters a spirit-world bathhouse. Watch how work, movement and quiet pauses make an impossible place feel lived in.
We place that visual world-building above Varda’s intimate discoveries. Bergman edges him for psychological intensity under our criteria. Prefer imaginative space, environmental feeling and a child’s changing view of the world, and Miyazaki could readily reach the top three.
Source: BFI.
Photo: Natasha Baucas · CC BY 2.0. Resized and recompressed; original status retained.
