Eo

Eo is the tale of a small donkey of the same name who we initially see as a circus performer very lovingly cared for by his young female trainer Kasandra. The authorities come and remove all of the circus animals and what follows is Eo's odyssey. He encounters all kinds of people (good and evil), animals, conditions, perils and experiences a breadth of adventures far greater than he would have had he remained in the circus. We of course experience these adventures with him. Visually Eo is beautiful and interesting. I add interesting because the images do seem to contain in all of them an element of narrative to them. This is important as Eo cannot speak and the film is minimal in dialogue. It is through imagery and an assertive score that much of the story is told. Watching a film like this brings me an almost omnipresent low level of anxiety with it though, which is an underlying concern that something very bad might happen to this harmless, innocent and gentle beast at any moment. While he does witness such things along the way, for the most part he is not a victim of but an observer of such things. I found the many different people Eo meets along the way interesting, like characters in a road movie. For me they worked. And for me Eo as a whole worked as well. Films of this type, regardless of how well they are done, seldom seem to appeal to the bulk of viewers out there (please note-this is not a Disney type film where the animals talk). For anyone else who is curious I recommend checking out Eo, ideally at the theater/cinema to fully appreciate.