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.

What the donkey’s gaze represents. Re-encountering the world with a sense of letting go of preconceptions and ideas.

This is true even for the actions of humans depicted through the eyes of EO. Whether it is the insistence of an animal rights group, the kind behavior of a kind-hearted woman, the conflict between soccer teams, a sudden murder, or a veterinarian saving EO without regard to profit or loss – they are not placed as elements that make up the story. The violence that the EOs occasionally suffer from humans may make the viewer angry, but that does not mean that they are introduced to “make a point” by the writer that “humans are cruel. They just happen there.

In an interview, Skolimowski said that he is heartbroken by the current escalation of war in Europe. Many people are probably trying to find different meanings and contexts for the tragic events happening in the world today. And sometimes, they may even make a “statement” or “message” about them.

EO”, however, confronts the world in a completely different way. It completely lets go of preconceived notions and rigid ideas, and simply looks and listens to what is happening in the moment. Wherever you go, you will see …… with eyes as unclouded as a donkey’s, sensuously. There are joys and sorrows, surprises and pleasures that transcend meaning, and Skolimowski seems to suggest that this is what cinema is all about. He seems to suggest that cinema – art – is not only for “understanding.

Some may feel that it is too innocent to try to capture the world as purely as a donkey when they think of the tragedies being caused around the world today by human beings. However, “EO” overcomes such cynicism with the power of its poetic cinematic expression. And we, the viewers of this film, are able to confront the world we thought we understood with a new sense of wonder.