Director Jerzy Skolimowski has said that the only time he ever cried while watching a movie was with Au hasard Balthazar (1966), which is about a mistreated donkey. The story heavily influenced EO (2022).
Director Jerzy Skolimowski stated that directing a donkey was wildly different from directing actors, as it doesn't understand any language and you have to be very gentle with it all the time, pet it and whisper in its ear. Its behavior was quite surprising, as scenes expected to be problematic, like shooting near a very loud waterfall, would go smoothly, but a cable on the floor could be an insurmountable hurdle. It would sometimes be easier to rethink the blocking for a scene than convince the donkey to do exactly what the director wanted.
The titular donkey Eo was played by six different donkeys named Tako, Ola, Marietta, Ettore, Rocco, and Mela. Tako was the main donkey and the others were his doubles.
According to Jerzy Skolimowski, about 70-80% of donkey screen time was either Tako or Hola as Eo. Tako was the primary "action actor" while Hola was nearly every close-up of Eo. In the opening circus scene, that donkey was Marietta, who regularly performs the resuscitation routine as an act throughout Europe.
The movie was selected to compete in the 2022 Cannes Film Festival, and won the Jury Prize.
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