EO

2022, Jerzy Skolimowski, Poland/Italy

Content Note: Animal cruelty

In 501 Movie Directors, Darryl Wiggers describes the protagonists of Jerzy Skolimowski’s films as “Out of place in their surroundings, much like immigrants in a new land.” Writing in 2007, Wiggers’ description would continue to be relevant 15 years later as the Polish auteur turned his attention to a non-human character.

The donkey at the centre of EO fits this description to a tee. The film has been compared to Robert Bresson’s ass-terpiece Au Haszard Balthazar. But as discussed during our 2024 season of cow films, the two directors approach their respective donkeys in importantly different ways. Skolimowski treats the animal much like he would a human actor, particularly with his use of reaction shots (something that Bresson deliberately avoided). 

After EO is freed from his circus and moves from one challenge to another, he navigates his new surroundings like an immigrant. Whether he is looking at humans doing human things, horses running free or even a robotic dog, we are invited to project our own understanding of the situation onto him. The film is occasionally harrowing and doesn’t shy away from the dark side of animal domestication but together, Skolimowski and his subject (played by six talented donkey actors) make it compelling.

“What is clear is that this donkey’s-eye view of the world sees mankind in all its madness; the laughter and the cruelty; the kindness and the killing (it’s not just animals who suffer sudden death); the love and the hatred intertwined.”—Mark Kermode, The Guardian