Review by Barry Meehan
Origin: Poland
Language: Polish, Italian, English, French
(Subtitles)
Duration: 88 Minutes
Script: Jerzy Skolimowski and Ewa
Piaskowska
Director: Jerzy Skolimowski
Cast: Sandra Drzymalska, Lorenzo Zurzolo,
Mateusz Kościukiewicz, Isabelle Huppert
The film EO is part of The European
Film Festival 2023 which runs from October 12 to 22, 2023 with screenings of
all 16 films at cinemas in Cape Town and Johannesburg, and limited screenings
in Durban, and online.
EO is a donkey. Actually, in this Polish “road” movie, he’s played by six donkeys, all of which are given billing in the credits - Ettore, Hola, Marietta, Mela, Rocco, and Tako (if that means anything to anyone!)
This film won the Jury Prize at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival, and was nominated as Best International Film for the 2022 Oscars. It has an approval rating of 97% on the Rotten Tomatoes website, with an average approval of 8.2/10 after 151 reviews, and has an 85/100 rating on Metacritic, based on 30 reviews. It was ranked fourth on Cahiers du Cinéma's top 10 films of 2022 list.
The idea behind this donkey-driven drama is apparently to give the cinema patron an idea of the world as seen through the eyes of a donkey, or any other animal that is incapable of interacting with humans through recognisable speech.
Be that as it may, and in spite of the critical acclaim heaped upon it (as above), and bearing in mind that this is purely one man’s humble opinion, I cannot rate this film as anything I could recommend, unless you are a passionate fan of European “art” movies. Certainly, it brings the sad life of most donkeys into perspective, and emphasises man’s violence and brutality towards helpless animals, but one gets that after the first five minutes of the movie, and doesn’t need it rammed down one’s throat over and over again as the movie progresses.
EO is 88 minutes long (including closing credits) which is just less than the recommended 90-minute feature film duration. I get the feeling that the director was struggling to get the film to feature length, so added arbitrary scenic and “arty” shots and close-ups of donkeys’ eyes, mouths, hooves, fur etc to reinforce his point, which we got some time previously. There are many pointless shots that do nothing to move the story along, and are inserted with no regard to continuity.
Apologies, but like I said, this is purely my opinion. If you take the time to see the film based on its universal approval, I sincerely hope that you can get lost in its cause and message. Take an open mind along, and enjoy it! – Barry Meehan
Screenings take place at Ster-Kinekor’s The Zone in Johannesburg, and The Labia in Cape Town. Each film will screen once.
Ster-Kinekor Gateway in Durban will present a limited programme of films not available in the online streaming. Five of the most recent films will only show in cinemas: Anatomy Of A Fall, Goodbye Julia, The Old Oak, The Teachers Lounge and Mavka – The Forest Song. 11 films can be viewed for free online.
Visit www.eurofilmfest.co.za for more information or click on the European Film Festival logo to the right of this article.
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