One of the most charming themes of 2022’s best movies was one of the cutest too: the humble, beguiling donkey. A full handful of donkey-centric movies are up for top prizes at the Academy Awards this year, including the beautiful, devastating, totally unexpected tribute to the donkey, “EO,” which is up for best international feature film and arrived on the Criterion Channel Tuesday.
“EO,” which won a jury prize at the Cannes Film Festival back in May, is directed by the 84-year-old legendary Polish filmmaker Jerzy Skolimowski, and is the brain child of Skolimowski and wife Ewa Piaskowska, his co-writer on the film. “EO,” which boasts incredible cinematography by Michal Dymek and an engrossing score by composer Pawel Mykietyn, follows the harrowing odyssey of a donkey named EO after he’s liberated from performing in the circus. But the world he finds on the outside is one that is sometimes welcoming, often beautiful, but also incredibly harsh and dangerous. As much as “EO” is a tribute to the gentle creatures and animals of the natural world, it is also a study in the chaos and absurdity of humanity, and it makes for a profoundly moving portrait of the world, through one animal’s eyes.
The “EO” page on the Criterion Channel includes a portrait of the six donkeys who portrayed EO, a making-of featurette and three of Skolimowksi’s early films as well.
If “EO” makes you curious to check out the other donkey movies of 2022, you’re in luck, although the donkeys in the movies this year don’t have very happy endings, so bear that in mind too, animal lovers. Ruben Ostlund’s nautical eat-the-rich satire “Triangle of Sadness” took home the Palme d’Or at Cannes and is also nominated for best picture and best director at the Academy Awards. This rollicking, arthouse take on “Below Deck” features a donkey in Act 3, when the formidable Dolly de Leon takes charge. Rent it on all platforms.
Of course, there’s a memorable donkey in Martin McDonagh’s “The Banshees of Inisherin” as well, the famed Jenny the Donkey, the beloved pet of Colin Farrell’s Padraic, whom he even lets sleep inside the house. “Banshees” is up for nine Academy Awards, including best picture, best director, best original screenplay, best actor (Farrell), best supporting actor (Brendan Gleeson and Barry Keoghan) and best supporting actress (Kerry Condon). Stream it on HBO Max.
There’s also an Oscar-nominated documentary that features a scene with some gentle donkeys. “Navalny,” the documentary portrait of jailed Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny directed by Daniel Roher, features a scene of Navalny and his wife feeding donkeys in the bucolic German village where he’s seeking exile after being poisoned by the KGB. This doc is an edge of your seat thriller as well as a fascinating portrait of Navalny as a person and political leader. Stream it on HBO Max.
For a donkey movie with a happier ending, stream “My Donkey, My Lover & I,” a French comedy about a woman, Antoinette (Laure Calamy) hitting the Stevenson Trail in southern France with the hopes of running into her married lover. Hikers have historically taken donkeys along, like Stevenson did, though it’s not so typical now. However, Antoinette ends up with a donkey, and along her journey she finds herself bonding with the stubborn yet steady animal, learning how to be alone and discovering she can navigate life’s challenges on her own. The performance earned Calamy a best actress Cesar Award. Rent it on Amazon, iTunes or Kino Now.
Don’t forget about the other cinematic masterpieces featuring lovable donkeys, including Robert Bresson’s 1966 classic “Au Hasard Balthazar” (Criterion Channel, iTunes, Amazon), the surreal Jacques Demy-directed fairy tale “Donkey Skin,” starring Catherine Deneuve (Criterion Channel) and, of course, “Shrek,” in which Eddie Murphy voices Donkey. Stream “Shrek” and “Shrek 2” on Prime Video and Peacock.
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(Katie Walsh is the Tribune News Service film critic and co-host of the "Miami Nice" podcast.)
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