Jerzy Skolimowski's 'EO' Reimagines the Road Movie Through a Donkey's Eyes

Jerzy Skolimowski's film 'EO' (2022) centers on a donkey protagonist, reinterpreting the American road movie tradition through a European, arthouse lens. The film pays homage to Robert Bresson's 'Au hasard Balthazar' but distinguishes itself through experimental digital techniques, including a pervasive red color shift that suggests human inability to perceive nature. Skolimowski transforms the road movie's typical vehicle—the motorcycle or horse—into a donkey, a 'lesser god' lacking beauty and elegance, to explore the evolving human-nature relationship. The narrative follows EO's aimless journey, rejecting Christian allegory or redemptive arcs; instead, the donkey's odyssey ends in digital form, leaving a mark on cinematic memory. The film blends sensory experience with pop culture references, including Disney-like anthropomorphism, while questioning whether nature can be reborn technologically as a post-human, post-natural hybrid. Carlotta Petracci's review for Artribune analyzes these themes, positioning 'EO' as a work that prioritizes feeling over understanding, challenging viewers to see the world through innocent eyes.