E O * * * *

The lead character in this film doesn't say a thing.  He just quietly observes and accepts what is going on.  He does not judge or complain.  He just is. There are times when he runs away from it all, but mostly he just accepts his lot in the world.  

EO is part of a circus and the girl that works with him loves him dearly.  Together they have developed some kind of act, but finances and animal liberationists put an end to it, so EO is out of a job. 

He is first sent to an agistment farm for equestrian horses. Whilst the magnificent horses proudly display their splendor EO drags around the food cart until he does something in a panic, causing chaos, which means he fails at his job.  

Innocence and beauty and fate

He is put into a farm where children with special needs can ride him but one night he is visited by an old friend which reminds him of his happy circus days so he runs away but ends up living in the forest for a while. 

We see the grandeur of nature through his POV: absent of sentimentality, but red toned and re-shaped for a different cornea.  If anything bugged me about this film it was the insistent and loud electronic music that came with his vision.

Hunters come in at night.  He hears their guns but ignores them.  He indifferently watches a wounded fox dying next to a stream. What can he do about it anyway?

Wandering out of the forest he ends up in a small town, but he is not allowed to simply wander around the town so they put him in a field. 

He hears noisy people and wanders over to find himself watching a football match between two small towns.  The winning team adopt him.  The losing team want to kill him. Both think he made some kind of contribution to the outcome of the match.  He did nothing of the sort.  He was simply there. 

He ends up in hospital after a brutal assault.  He is condemned and put on a truck but never gets to his assigned place of death. He is rescued by a kindly priest who has otherwise spoiled his own life through his gambling addiction. The priest lives in a mansion with his wealthy stepmother.  

There EO lives upon the lush lawns.  We see him through the open door and windows as the young priest and stepmother fight over his gambling debts until they admit something they have always known about each other. But the house is lost and so is EO's heavenly sanctuary.

Then something else happens. He, and us, are reminded of his lot in this world.  He can do nothing to stop it.  He can't understand it.  He doesn't even try to understand it.  He just accepts it and walks toward it. 

Although it was disturbing at times, I found this film quite unique. Throughout the watching of it I felt concerned and empathetic, not just for the lead character but for all animals, which I think is the idea.

You see, EO, the lead character is a donkey.  A donkey with beautiful eyes that communicates to the audience only through staring back at us.  But this is nothing like a Disney film. 

It makes you think about his lot in life.  Really people can (and do) what they like to animals. Fortunately we are spared having to watch actual cruelty, but it is implied.  Yet it is suggested without judgement.  Is that because we too are simply animals?

Polish director Jerzy Skolimowski is now in his eighties. This film might be his swansong. I don't know. 

If it is, I guess he can be assured of being remembered by those that see it.  EO is strange but it's kind of unforgettable.  Oh, and don't worry. Even though there are disturbing suggestions, we are assured that no animals were harmed during the making of this extraordinary film.