The world is a mysterious place, especially seen through the eyes of an animal. On his way, EO, a gray donkey with melancholy eyes, meets good people and bad people and experiences joy and sorrow, but never, at any moment, does he lose his innocence.
Certainly, this new feature film by veteran Jerzy Skolimowski (Illegal work, Essential Killing) will be one of the most amazing you will see this year. Paying homage to Random balthazar, a classic film by Robert Bresson, the Polish filmmaker offers a vision of the world – and of the humans who inhabit it – through the eyes of a donkey. And the encounters – good or bad – that the animal will make on its way.
To translate the thoughts of this donkey, whose expressive eyes seem to want to convey a range of emotions ranging from melancholy to resignation, without forgetting judgement, the filmmaker engages in an impressive formal enterprise. We thus enter into a different conception of the world.
At a time when divisions of all kinds seem to be multiplying on the planet, Skolimowski invites us to take a step back through this portrait that sends us back to our own collective dehumanization. Although lugged everywhere and not having control of his destiny, this donkey, named EO, nevertheless draws his conclusions. And when, stubbornly, EO decides not to move, perhaps because that is better than running to ruin (this scene in front of a roadblock is very evocative), we can certainly see an alert launched to the next generations by an artist who, at 84, gives us one of his most beautiful films.
Winner of the jury prize at the Cannes Film Festival (tied with The Eight Mountains by Felix van Groeningen and Charlotte Vandermeerch), candidate chosen by Poland for the next race for the Oscars in the category of best international film, EO is currently showing in the original Polish version with subtitles (French or English).
Indoors
Drama
EO
Jerzy Skolimowski
With Sandra Drzymalska, Lorenzo Zurzolo, Isabelle Huppert
1:29 a.m.