Review of Jerzy Skolimowski’s new film”EO” How can human beings reencounter the world?

A Polish master who is increasingly edgy even after his 60th birthday. The Aesthetics of the Moment by Jerzy Skolimowski

This world is full of wonders. When I watch the films of Polish genius Jerzy Skolimowski, I often have moments when I feel as if I am in awe of the world. It may be my illusion. However, I am always overwhelmed by Skolimowski’s visual expression, which shocks the sense of sight and hearing so violently.

Skolimowski was a jazz drummer and boxer in his youth, and worked as a screenwriter for Polish directors such as Angel Wajda and Roman Polanski, and was highly acclaimed for his Nouvelle Vague-inspired films “The Departure” (1967) and “Deep End” (1970). After “30 Door Key” (1991), he worked mainly as an actor in films such as David Cronenberg’s “Eastern Promises” (2007), while also working as a painter. His return to the director’s chair after a 17-year absence with “Four Nights with Anna” (2008) was greeted with critical acclaim. His subsequent works seem to have gained more and more edge in their expression.

In “Four Nights with Anna,” a lonely middle-aged man’s ill-fated love affair is portrayed in a teasing manner, only to be suddenly interrupted by the sound of a helicopter explosion. “Essential Killing” (2010) depicts a terrorist on the run, but the politics behind it are not only unclear, but the protagonist does not speak a word and only bare action takes place. “11 Minutes” (2010) depicts events that take place within 11 minutes from multiple perspectives and shows the inside of a decisive moment in an overly dynamic film.

In Skolimowski’s films, life-changing “moments” often occur out of context, leaving the viewer stunned without context or background. In his new film, “EO” Skolimowski, now in his 80s, has created an astonishing moment that will change the way we look at the world. “EO” is made up of a series of startling moments that will change the way we look at the world.

“EO” is a film about the wandering of a donkey. Confronting an absurd world that defies logic

Inspired by Robert Bresson’s “Au Hasard Balthazar” (1966), “EO” is a film about a donkey. The donkey, EO, is kept by a circus troupe and has a close relationship with a young woman performer, but one day he is separated from her due to a demonstration by an animal rights group. The film simply follows EO’s journey as he wanders without a destination.

Above all, this film thoroughly travels the world from EO’s point of view. EO is taken away from the circus troupe, and as he wanders through villages and towns, he encounters many people, but there is no judgment of right or wrong. There is no big story line, which existed in “Au Hasard Balthazar” and EO witnesses what happens everywhere he goes in fragments with a pure eye. Therefore, we, the viewers, are required to accept what we see as it is.

The key point of “EO” is that it does not necessarily pursue reality alone. The opening sequence, in which Paveł Mikyetin’s orchestral music rises slowly amidst flickering red lights, is intoxicating, and Michał Dimek’s cinematography of the natural beauty of the road has a beauty that is hard to believe. The sounds that EO hears are sometimes presented in extremely three-dimensional sound. It is a film that sharpened my senses to the utmost.

In other words, the act of watching the film “EO” itself is presented as an experience that transcends logic. Trees fall with a clattering sound, horses gallop across the land, cupboards collapse with a sudden crash, and a wolf is seriously wounded while being chased by hunters. A four-legged robot is shown symbolically without any explanation. But all of this has no clear meaning and appears only as an event that takes place there.