NZIFF: EO

Strap in for an unforgettable, visionary trip, an Oscar-nominated journey that stunned Cannes with its cinematic flair. Your hosts? An octogenarian Polish auteur – and a donkey.

One of 2022’s least likely film trends was a focus on donkeys, from Triangle of Sadness to The Banshees of Inisherin. But just one film dared to place a donkey centre stage, boldly going where only Robert Bresson had gone before.
Anyone expecting the austerity of Au Hasard, Balthazar – an inspiration acknowledged by director Jerzy Skomilowski – will be roundly disabused by EO’s opening seconds, as red strobing lights bathe a circus performance. (Photosensitive viewers are cautioned). While much of Balthazar recurs in a remixed fashion – a drunken celebration, an aging chateau, beatings, gunshots, tender connection–this titular donkey’s journey eschews the allegorical for the experiential, taking us both deep into EO’s world and outwards to the cosmic.
Rated R13