Cannes Review: Jerzy Skolimowski’s ‘EO’

It may be impossible for a human to imagine a donkey thinking, but for the most part, veteran Polish director Jerzy Skolimowski does a very interesting job of imagining how the animal world sees and feels. EO.

Quite obviously, it was conceived as an accompanying and profoundly and deeply exciting response to the study of the same animal breed from Robert Bresson in 1966. au random balthazarScreening of a competing film at the Cannes Film Festival The new film generates dizzying ideas about how such a creature could be seen in the world. An exemplary, new and dazzling work by the 84-year-old director, who has not lost his energy or his perspective until something fell in the last half hour.

Collaborating closely with screenwriter Eva Paiskowska and cinematographer Michal Dimetek, Skolimovsky uses every visual tool to explore what life is like and what life is like for a creature that, unlike many other animals, has nothing to show for it. Far more than most animals that live and work in close proximity to humans, they have an active and often laborious existence dedicated to meaningful work until the steam runs out, after which they are essentially useless. Unlike horses, donkeys are not athletes. For many people, it’s a story about being born, working as long as possible, and then dying.

The story begins in a Polish circus, which is not as bad as many other animals. But animal rights activists stopped him, and then EO got to a very good place: a zoo; No stress there. Yet nothing seems permanent, a fact that EO often encountered throughout his traveling life.

For an hour, Skolimovsky and Dimeck demonstrate a tremendous ability to imagine and approach what we can imagine as the monster’s point of view. The film illuminates its bright and artistic projection with a sharper image than usual; Seen with the increasing visual awareness of filmmakers, the whole world seems more exciting, fascinating and exciting.

Wherever you go, EO works, gets the job done; What are donkeys for? Without approaching boredom and fatigue, the film nevertheless manages to convey what seems like endless repetition in the case of animals, which in this case is not far from the repetitive and banal mostly human activities.

The film’s whimsical and visual brilliance is convoluted and impressive at first, then drops off a bit during a visit to a not-so-interesting wealthy woman (Isabel Huppert). This last chapter should also deal with what happens when these animals reach human retirement age; Poodles and beautiful fat cats can be allowed to live to the natural end of their lives, but what about pack animals? Not likely.

EO It’s an unexpected study, albeit respecting the current focus on better treatment of animals, a topic that has been making money recently. As we have said, this is not a treatise, but an ingenious, passionate and sometimes passionate attempt to envision the thought and life of such a different creature.