EO

This nominee for Best International Film Oscar is a look at how humanity treats animals by using the perspective of the animal. In this case, Eo is both a work and a star donkey of a bankrupt touring circus that gets shut down. His true love is his co-star in his part of the show, Kassandra. When the authorities shut down the financially-strained circus, he is part of the confiscation, causing him to be torn away from Kassandra, upsetting him greatly. He escapes to go on a trek to find her. The movie focuses on him and his travails. I thought the perspective was refreshing, but it comes with a caveat that one experiences as the film progresses. I could not help getting caught up in the emotionalism that this displayed. I saw this a week ago and can not get it out of my head.

The film tells a story of the world, which is shown through the eyes of a donkey. It is worth admitting that the film is very strong and affecting. Although, there is almost no talking in the film, but everything is still clear. The whole mood is created by visual effects, sound effects and, of course, donkey emotions.

In this film, the most important thing is the donkey and his experiences, emotions like sadness and fear. In fact, the strength of this film is the emotional background, which does not require any dialogues or monologues, and is focused on the world of the animal and the world around.

Unfortunately, after watching the movie, you get the feeling that in reality, sometimes a person can act like an animal and not have any humanity in him, and the animal has not done anything bad to this world, but it is treated cruelly. The film is very impactful and stays in the mind for a very long time.

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.

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 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.