EO

Inspired by Bresson's 1966 Au Hasard du Balthazar, EO is a very worthwhile contemporary revision of an innocent animal's experience of the human condition. Our folly, our greed, our anger and violence, our hypocrisy, our hubris ... and many more vices, but occasionally moments of redeeming compassion. When human beings were hunter gatherers we were much closer to the behaviour of animals, and coexisted in an ecologically natural state. Well deserved Palme D'Ors for both the music and the movie. Excellent photography and sequencing too. This film takes us on an inexorable journey involving a gamut of emotions. See it at a cinema for the best experience.

EO is a thrillingly surreal odyssey that shows the best and worst of mankind in unpredictable fashion whilst always emphasising the beauty of nature. There's so many genuine moments of warmth which only make the darker moments all the more devastating. It's such a unique experience.

The several Donkeys that play EO give a phenomenal performance. The amount of emotion in their eyes is unrivalled and the cries of anguish are equally powerful. EO is supported by some great performances from Sandra Dryzmalska, Isabelle Hupert and Lorenzo Zurzolo in particular.

Jerzy Skolimowski crafts a real technical marvel. Along with Michal Dymek's varied cinematography it swaps between some top tier drone shots, a gorgeous use of colour (especially red) and plenty of Donkey's-eye view shots. Pawel Mykietyn's score adds further beauty to the gorgeous imagery.

If you are looking for a story in a movie this is probably not for you. This one is a piece of art though. Have you ever wondered what would a donkey do if you let it loose? This movie tries to answer that very question. You follow EO (pronounce it so that it sounds like a donkey), taken from a Polish circus because of bankruptcy, he gets away multiple times and ends up in Italy. He falls on the worst of the human race as well as good people. Any short story that starts during his journey never gets a resolution because he just leaves for other things. It is a bit frustrating at times, but you are here to follow EO, no-one else. The imagery is beautiful, and the music on top is just awesome. An underrated movie that you should see if you love art more than cinema.

The circus was your home but now it's closing, new outcomes are ahead, life's recomposing, a journey has begun, there'll be sorrow and some fun, lots of being led around and often roaming. You'll take the opportunities, that you're presented (you don't have a choice), and quite often you will feel, like you're resented, poorly treated by humans, but not always, some are friends, though they'll always seem to be, distressed, tormented.

The life of a donkey, the people it encounters, for good or bad, and the array of farms, fields, pens, containers, sanctuaries and otherwise that are used to restrict it, often quite unsuccessfully, as it's pushed from pillar to post - just as most animals are on their journey to the abattoir or slaughterhouse, does it remind you of anyone you know?

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.