2025 № 2 (53)

UDC 791.43-2

LBC 85.374; 85.374.3(3)

DOI: 10.51678/2226-0072-2025-2-482-509

For cit.: Popova A. The Imagery of Apuleius’ Donkey (The Golden Ass) and the Culture of the Anthropocene: Animal Poetics in Cinematography of the 20th and 21st Centuries. Hudozhestvennaya kul’tura [Art & Culture Studies], 2025, no. 2, pp. 482–509. https://doi.org/10.51678/2226-0072-2025-2-482-509. (In Russian)

Popova Alexandra

PhD (in Art History), Independent Researcher, Almaty, Kazakhstan

https://orcid.org/0009-0001-2772-459X

ResearcherID: KYP-0676-2024

alexandrapopova.online@gmail.com

The Imagery of Apuleius’ Donkey (The Golden Ass) and the Culture of the Anthropocene: Animal Poetics in Cinematography of the 20th and 21st Centuries

Abstract. The article reviews two films about animals — Au Hasard Balthazar (Robert Bresson, 1966) and Eo (Jerzy Skolimowski, 2022) — which both adopt motives that appeared in Apuleius’ novel Metamorphoses, or the Golden Ass (2nd century AD). Special attention in the article is given to the methods of the animal cinematographic representation, which despite the resemblance of Bresson’s and Skolimowski’s premises differ drastically in the two films.

Over the last decades, filmmakers have shifted away from the anthropocentric approach to animals. The concept of sustainable film production with particular concern for environmental and biodiversity issues has been formed and improved. The article claims two ways of representing the same character (in the case of the two analysed films — a donkey). The first method is based on the assumption that animals could have the same mindset as humans, and the second one — on fantasy and creative latitude in using non-verbal agents to spell out and convey animals’ feelings. In the first case, the director gets an opportunity to show human relationships from an unusual angle, whereas in the second one, he has a chance to develop new techniques enriching his artistic style and to draw attention to animal rights issues by acting upon the viewer’s perception via non-verbal communication. Both films inherit from the ancient novel and bring it to the present: the first one takes over the participation effect, whereas the second one adopts an affective tone and ludic element.

Keywords: animals in films, animal ethics, animal rights, animal exploitation, sustainable film production, the critique of violence, film character, female film character

References:

Apuleius. Metamorfozy i drugie sochineniya [The Metamorphoses and Other Works], transl. from Latin, ed., sc. prep. of the text M. Gasparov, intr. article N. Grigoryeva, comments M. Gasparov, N. Grigoryeva, A. Kuznetsova, E. Rabinovitch, R. Urban. Moscow, Khudozhestvennaya literatura Publ., 1988. 399 p. (In Russian)

Berger J. Zachem smotret’ na zhivotnykh? [Why Look at Animals?], transl. from English A. Aslanyan. Moscow, Ad Marginem Press Publ., 2017. 160 p. (In Russian)

Bresson R. Bresson o Bressone [Bresson on Bresson], transl. from French S. Kozin. Moscow, Rosebud Publishing, 2017. 336 p. (In Russian)

Homer. Iliada; Odisseya [Iliad. Odyssey], transl. from Ancient Greek V. Zhukovsky, N. Gnedich. St. Petersburg, SZKEO Publ., 2023. 920 p. (In Russian)

Graves R. Mify Drevnei Gretsii [The Greek Myths], transl. from English by K. Lukyanenko. Moscow, Inostranka Publ., Azbuka-Attikus Publ., 2014. 832 p. (Inostrannaya literatura. Bol’shie knigi [Foreign Literature. Big Books]). (In Russian)

Gruen L. Ehtika i zhivotnye: Vvedenie [Ethics and Animals: Introduction], transl. from English D. Kralechkin, sc. ed. S. Shchukina. Moscow, Izdatel’skii dom Vysshei shkoly ehkonomiki Publ., 2024. 352 p. [Politicheskaya teoriya [Political Theory]). (In Russian)

Dares Phrygius. Istoriya o razrushenii Troi [A History on the Destruction of Troy], transl. from Latin, comments, intr. article, comp. A.V. Zakharova, hexametric transl. D.O. Torshilov. St. Petersburg, Aleteya Publ., 1997. 301 p. (Seriya “Antichnaya biblioteka”. Antichnaya istoriya [The Antique Library Series. Ancient History]). (In Russian)

Dostoevsky F.M. Idiot: roman v 4 ch. [The Idiot: Novel in 4 parts], intr. article E. Starikova, notes I. Bityugova. Moscow, Khudozhestvennaya literatura Publ., 1983. 607 p. (Biblioteka klassiki. Russkaya literatura [The Library of Classics. Russian Literature]). (In Russian)

Iisus Khristos v dokumentakh istorii [Jesus Christ in the Documents of History], comp., article and comments B.G. Derevensky. 6th ed., revised, compl. St. Petersburg, Aleteya Publ., 2013. 576 p. (Antichnoe khristianstvo. Istochniki [Ancient Christianity. Sources]). (In Russian)

Pausanias. Opisanie Ehllady: V 2 t. [Description of Greece: In 2 vols.]. Vol. 1. Books I–VI, transl. from Ancient Greek S.P. Kondratyev, under ed. E.V. Nikityuk. Moscow, AST Publ., Ladomir Publ., 2002. 492 p. (Klassicheskaya mysl’ [Classic Thought]). (In Russian)

Plutarch. Sravnitel’nye zhizneopisaniya [The Parallel Lives], transl. from Ancient Greek S. Destunis, intr. article E. Zheltova. Moscow, Eksmo Publ., 2007. 1503 p. (In Russian)

Schrader P. Transcendental’nyi stil’ v kino: Odzu, Bresson, Dreyer [Transcendental Style in Film: Ozu, Bresson, Dreyer], transl. from English A. Shulgat. Moscow, Des Esseintes Press Publ., 2023. 240 p. (In Russian)

Ehllinskie poehty: v perevodakh V. Veresaeva [Greek Poets: in V. Veresaev’s Translations], introd. N. Sakharny, commets V. Veresaev, M. Botvinnik, A. Zaytsev. Moscow, Gosudarstvennoe izdatel’stvo khudozhestvennoi literatury Publ., 1963. 407 p. (In Russian)

Barraclough L. How the Donkeys in ‘EO’ Taught Director Jerzy Skolimowski to Be Humble and Open-Minded. Variety, 13.01.2023. Available at: https://variety.com/2023/artisans/awards/oscars-jerzy-skolimowski-eo-1235489295/ (accessed 19.07.2024).

Cipa M. A Tale of Two Donkeys: Transcendent Creatures and Transcendental Style in Au Hasard Balthazar and EO. Senses of Cinema, 2024, May, no. 109. Available at: https://www.sensesofcinema.com/2024/film-and-the-nonhuman/a-tale-of-two-donkeys-transcendent-creatures-and-transcendental-style-in-au-hasard-balthazar-and-eo/ (accessed 21.07.2024).

Fay J. Inhospitable World: Cinema in the Time of the Anthropocene. Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2018. 272 p.

Giannopoulou Z. Being Animal in Robert Bresson’s Au Hasard Balthazar. Senses of Cinema, 2024, May, no. 109. Available at: https://www.sensesofcinema.com/2024/film-and-the-nonhuman/being-animal-in-robert-bressons-au-hasard-balthazar/ (accessed 21.07.2024).

Hoberman J. Braying Through History. Jerzy Skolimowski’s Wild and Kinetic Eo. The Nation, 2022, December 28. Available at: https://www.thenation.com/article/culture/braying-through-history/ (accessed 16.07.2024).

Kohn E. How to Direct a Donkey — Jerzy Skolimowski Explains All. IndieWire, 2022, November 23. Available at: https://www.indiewire.com/video/jerzy-skolimowski-interview-eo-1234785056/ (accessed 19.07.2024).

Kuhn A., Westwell G. A Dictionary of Film Studies. Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2012. 528 p.

Malamud R. An Introduction to Animals and Visual Culture. London, Palgrave Macmillan, 2012. 176 p. (The Palgrave Macmillan Animal Ethics Series).

Mańkowski Ł., Skolimowski J. Punkty widzenia. Czas Kultury, 2023, no. 4. Available at: https://czaskultury.pl/artykul/punkty-widzenia/ (accessed 19.07.2024).

Molloy M., Duncan P., Henry C. Screening the Posthuman. Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2023. 316 p.

Reumont F. Michał Dymek, PSC, Speaks about the Shooting of “EO”, by Jerzy Skolimowski. Contre-Champ. Spécial Camerimage, 2022, November 14, pp. 51–53. Available at: https://www.afcinema.com/Michal-Dymek-PSC-speaks-about-the-shooting-of-EO-by-Jerzy-Skolimowski.html (accessed 28.07.2024).

Tataj M., Broszko K. Coś twórczego wkrótce się wydarzy. Wywiad z Jerzym Skolimowskim. Teraz Polska, 2018. Available at: https://magazynterazpolska.pl/pl/a/cos-tworczego-wkrotce-sie-wydarzy (accessed 17.07.2024).

Termer. J. IO (EO), Skolimowski, Osiołek, Apulejusz i IA… Pisarze.pl, 2023, April 4, no. 531. Available at: https://pisarze.pl/2023/04/04/janusz-termer-marginesy-io-eo-skolimowski-osiolek-apulejusz-i-ia/ (accessed 22.07.2024).

Thompson D. Jerzy Skolimowski on His Surreal Donkey Drama Eo: “I Took Bresson’s Au hasard Balthazar Like a Lesson from the Old Master”. Sight & Sound, 2023, February 23. Available at: https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/interviews/jerzy-skolimowski-donkey-drama-eo (accessed 17.07.2024).

Zoo Studies: A New Humanities, eds. T. McDonald, D. Vandersommers. Montreal, McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2019. 360 p.

Received 28.07.2024

Accepted 11.03.2025