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130: Jerzy Skolimowski's Eo (Excerpt)
Seventh Row Podcast
English - November 25, 2022 05:01 - 20 minutes - 18.7 MB - ★★★★★ - 21 ratingsTV & Film film Homepage Download Apple Podcasts Google Podcasts Overcast Castro Pocket Casts RSS feed
This is an excerpt of a members only episode. To listen to the full episode, become a member at http://seventh-row.com/join
One of the best movies of 2022, Jerzy Skolimowski's visually and aurally inventive Eo, is now in cinemas for a limited time. The film is about injustice in the animal world seen through the eyes of a donkey. It's a great big screen experience (for sound and image) so we're going deep on the film this week. Editor-in-Chief Alex Heeney and Executive Editor Orla Smith are joined by Associate Editor Dr. Brett "Empathy" Pardy.
About the excerpt
In this excerpt, we discuss whether Eo is presented as an "exceptional" animal/donkey in the film. Many films about animals depict them as exceptional, like Air Bud the golden retriever who can play basketball or Okja the superpig. In many ways, Skolimowski's film bucks convention here by making Eo a fairly normal donkey whose experiences (and the way he's depicted) render him a subject of interest rather than because he's a particularly special donkey.
We ask, why do we care about animals on screen (in general) and why do we care about Eo? Does a home exist for a donkey like Eo?
Become a member to listen to the rest of the discussion, which includes:
In the full episode, we go even deeper on how the film creates empathy for a donkey and give a donkey the appearance of a full emotional inner-life. We also compare Eo to other recent films about (or featuring) animals — including White God, Lean on Pete, Cow, and Gunda — to help us understand how empathy is usually extended toward on-screen animals. Finally, we discuss how some of the best politically conscious films being made today, with youthful exuberance, are coming from directors over 70.
01:51 Why are we talking about Eo?
09:18 Placing Eo within the canon of donkey stories
13:53 Exceptional donkeys (this section is the only one available free)
32:00 Anthropomorphising animals
46:56 An older generation of political filmmakers
Where to find us
Follow Seventh Row on Twitter and Instagram @SeventhRow.
Follow Alex Heeney @bwestcineaste, Orla Smith @orlamango, and Dr. Brett Pardy @DrAntiqueiPod on Twitter.