ENTERTAINMENT: Oscar-nominated ‘EO’ to be screened in Westport

On October 4, Westport Film Club will screen renowned Polish director Jerzy Skolimowski’s ‘EO’. The film, which was nominated for Best International Feature at the 2023 Oscars, loosely references Robert Bresson’s 1966 film ‘Au Hasard Balthasar’, believed to be inspired by Fyodor Dostoevsky’s ‘The Idiot’.
Skolimowski made ‘EO’ as an advocation for animal rights. It looks on two aspects of freedom though an unsentimental lens: The perceived freedom, or lack of the same, for animals, and the freedom humans have to be caring or callous to animals and indeed to each other. 
EO, a donkey, is traversing though Poland after animal-rights activists protest at the circus of which it (no gender is given to EO in the film) was a part. The circus then chooses to let the donkey go due to legislation about using animals. The act of setting a quite domesticated animal free to roam central Europe is the first of many nihilistic acts that determine EO’s path.
The donkey’s agency as he puts one hoof in front of the other and keeps going forward, despite all sorts of human interventions, is both tender and devastating. It makes for difficult viewing as you see EO coming in contact with humans who abuse the animal. It’s made particularly hard by this animal’s unflinching, calm and unreactive presence while experiencing abuse. This is a stark portrait of vulnerability.
EO ends up in a bar at one point with smoke being purposely blown in its face and loud music blaring, with people trying to get it to drink alcohol. The dark side of humanity is a constant shadow over this animal, who takes on the allegorical figure of innocence in a mostly uncaring world. 
We do get a brief respite when EO is shown some tenderness. The times it happens are so few, these moments feel difficult to watch and are loaded with a different kind of sadness. 
The cinematography by Michal Dymek is experimental and evocative; Michal used a large format camera and vintage lens, which could warp the edges of the frame and create a sense of how EO might experience its environment. This technique and others used make for an immersive viewing experience. 
Its impossible not to be changed by the stark and bleak world EO must pass through, with no fixed destination.

• Ann Conmy is a member of the Westport Film Club. The club’s annual membership is €40 for seven movies. Non members are welcome at €10 per film. All films start at 8.45pm. Tickets can be purchased at the W cinema from 8.30pm on the night. ‘EO’ will screen on Wednesday, October 4.