December 9, 2022
FILM: EO
STARRING: SANDRA DRZYMALSKA, ISABELLE HUPPERT, LORENZO ZURZOLO
DIRECTED BY JERZY SKOLIMOWSKI
RATING: 3 STARS (Out of 4)
By Dan Pal
In the last few years there have been a couple of incredible documentaries about some familiar members of the animal kingdom. Last year Andrea Arnold released an amazing and rich look at two cows in her film Cow. Elizabeth Lo documented the story of a stray dog living on the streets of Istanbul in the moving Stray. This year we get something different but no less intimate with Polish director Jerzy Skolimowski’s EO. It is not a documentary per se but the main character is played by a real-life donkey. We follow his story within a fictional world comprised, in part, of a circus, a soccer game, a farm, and a large villa.
When we first meet EO he is being forced to perform in a circus with a particularly unpleasant trainer. Protests outside reflect the message of the film: animals in these circumstances are not treated well and are often tortured to entertain. Eventually EO escapes and walks down streets, in forests, and through a village. Along the way, he is captured and experiences some love but mostly a lot of drunk people with bad intentions. Fortunately, his blind perseverance allows him to move in and out of such situations.
What I’m describing might sound a bit like a Disney or Pixar movie however this is anything but that. There are no animal voices but instead a lot of close-ups, often capturing the point of view of the donkey. We might read into his expressions and imagine what he must be thinking as he goes through his various travails. But that would be simply us humans putting our own emotions onto the animal. We don’t really know what he thinks, at least until one particularly moving moment when he kicks one of the film’s “villains.”
That said, at times the drama is a bit overwrought. There is a blaring soundtrack present to completely appeal to human emotions as it strongly suggests moments of danger and sadness. I found this to be a bit too heavy-handed as it often feels like we are being told what the donkey and viewers are supposed to feel. Why not let the images speak for themselves?
The film also mysteriously changes its perspective several times throughout what is supposed to be EO’s story. There are some incredible drone shots, for instance, which provide a wide perspective of the film’s various vignette settings. One in particular is shot with a red tint suggesting the danger and blood in the environment of EO and the other animals he encounters. While quite beautiful, shots like these take us away from EO’s perspective in favor of an artful aesthetic. Skolimowski also spends time focusing on some of the characters EO encounters. While these could be part of his journey, they often take us into what feels like a completely different world and space. In one of these, Isabelle Huppert plays a stepmother to a man who has been gone for several years. There’s a suggestion of incest here which might make an interesting story on its own but again, it turns all attention away from EO.
None of this is to say that the film is a failure in any way. Instead these are detours in the life of the film and the main character. Most of the time Skolimowski’s primary message is clear: The animal kingdom is often at the mercy of the people who they are living with or who they encounter along the way. There’s some significant animal cruelty here and Skolimowski spares no images or sounds that suggest many of these animals are purely suffering. The cries of distraught horses, for instance, are quite disturbing. We see them prodded and caged. Some are shot in the wilderness as EO looks on. His expressions can really only be interpreted but they do serve a purpose: they allow us to see up close what we often subject those in the animal world to.
EO doesn’t follow a traditional plot structure but we do get to experience a bonding period with this one donkey. We’re definitely made to feel something for him and all animals throughout the film and that might be the reason to see EO.
EO played at the Chicago International Film Festival. It opens today at the Gene Siskel Center in Chicago.
FILM: EO
STARRING: SANDRA DRZYMALSKA, ISABELLE HUPPERT, LORENZO ZURZOLO
DIRECTED BY JERZY SKOLIMOWSKI
RATING: 3 STARS (Out of 4)
By Dan Pal
In the last few years there have been a couple of incredible documentaries about some familiar members of the animal kingdom. Last year Andrea Arnold released an amazing and rich look at two cows in her film Cow. Elizabeth Lo documented the story of a stray dog living on the streets of Istanbul in the moving Stray. This year we get something different but no less intimate with Polish director Jerzy Skolimowski’s EO. It is not a documentary per se but the main character is played by a real-life donkey. We follow his story within a fictional world comprised, in part, of a circus, a soccer game, a farm, and a large villa.
When we first meet EO he is being forced to perform in a circus with a particularly unpleasant trainer. Protests outside reflect the message of the film: animals in these circumstances are not treated well and are often tortured to entertain. Eventually EO escapes and walks down streets, in forests, and through a village. Along the way, he is captured and experiences some love but mostly a lot of drunk people with bad intentions. Fortunately, his blind perseverance allows him to move in and out of such situations.
What I’m describing might sound a bit like a Disney or Pixar movie however this is anything but that. There are no animal voices but instead a lot of close-ups, often capturing the point of view of the donkey. We might read into his expressions and imagine what he must be thinking as he goes through his various travails. But that would be simply us humans putting our own emotions onto the animal. We don’t really know what he thinks, at least until one particularly moving moment when he kicks one of the film’s “villains.”
That said, at times the drama is a bit overwrought. There is a blaring soundtrack present to completely appeal to human emotions as it strongly suggests moments of danger and sadness. I found this to be a bit too heavy-handed as it often feels like we are being told what the donkey and viewers are supposed to feel. Why not let the images speak for themselves?
The film also mysteriously changes its perspective several times throughout what is supposed to be EO’s story. There are some incredible drone shots, for instance, which provide a wide perspective of the film’s various vignette settings. One in particular is shot with a red tint suggesting the danger and blood in the environment of EO and the other animals he encounters. While quite beautiful, shots like these take us away from EO’s perspective in favor of an artful aesthetic. Skolimowski also spends time focusing on some of the characters EO encounters. While these could be part of his journey, they often take us into what feels like a completely different world and space. In one of these, Isabelle Huppert plays a stepmother to a man who has been gone for several years. There’s a suggestion of incest here which might make an interesting story on its own but again, it turns all attention away from EO.
None of this is to say that the film is a failure in any way. Instead these are detours in the life of the film and the main character. Most of the time Skolimowski’s primary message is clear: The animal kingdom is often at the mercy of the people who they are living with or who they encounter along the way. There’s some significant animal cruelty here and Skolimowski spares no images or sounds that suggest many of these animals are purely suffering. The cries of distraught horses, for instance, are quite disturbing. We see them prodded and caged. Some are shot in the wilderness as EO looks on. His expressions can really only be interpreted but they do serve a purpose: they allow us to see up close what we often subject those in the animal world to.
EO doesn’t follow a traditional plot structure but we do get to experience a bonding period with this one donkey. We’re definitely made to feel something for him and all animals throughout the film and that might be the reason to see EO.
EO played at the Chicago International Film Festival. It opens today at the Gene Siskel Center in Chicago.