Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #11830 in DVD
• Released on: 2003-08-04
• Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
• Number of discs: 1
• Format: PAL
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 135 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
A film adaptation of the play by Peter Shaffer, Equus stars Richard Burton as Martin Dysart, a psychiatrist who takes on an unusual case: a young stable boy (Peter Firth) who, in frenzy, has blinded six horses. Their sessions reveal that the boy has a quasi-religious fetish for horses and he rides them in the dead of night, experiencing an ecstasy unlike anything Dysart has ever known. Dysart begins to question: Is the pursuit of normalcy worth the loss of individual passions?

Equus features a lot of hokum--its therapy scenes are absurd crescendos of revelation and insights--but its central question has substance, the direction is energetic, and the performances are powerful; Burton, handsome and haggard, brings a complex self-loathing to his role. It also features Jenny Agutter and Joan Plowright. --Bret Fetzer

Special Features
English
Region 2

Synopsis
Sidney Lumet directed this film version of Peter Shaffer's dramatic play, transforming theatrical symbolism into cinematic realism. Richard Burton received an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor for his performance as Martin Dysert, a psychiatrist determined to unravel the disturbed mind of Alan Strang (Peter Firth), a young stableboy. In a fit of rage, Strang has blinded a stable of six horses. The court then assigns Dysert to probe the young man's mind in order to understand why he committed such a violent act. But the doctor, who is battling demons of his own, wonders if he can save the boy--and whether saving him at all is the right thing to do. Joan Plowright stands out as Dora Strang, the young boy's mother.

Customer Reviews

Remarkably moving
Sidney Lumet made some of the very best films of the 70s; 'Serpico', 'Dog Day Afternoon' and 'Network' being his best known. He also made some phenomenal British movies, the best of which are 'The Offence' (1972) and 'Equus' (1977).

I came to this film knowing very little about it, and am very glad for that fact, as it is not something to which justice can be done in a small summary of its story, nor is it a story that would make most people subsequently want to see the film. For this reason I will simply tell you that this film's power is not in its story, but in its exceptional delivery.

Lumet's films almost always have a certain unspoken quality to them that is very hard to define. I used to think it was the absence of a director's mark, but that is precisely the mark of Lumet; we don't know he's there. There is never any notion of self-consciousness in his films and, in a film this prone to pretension, that is quite a feat.

Shaffer's writing is inspired and meticulously researched, but never at the expense of the audience's attention. The psychology and philosophy that form the undercurrent of this movie demand that it be a slow paced film and that the viewer be prepared to ask themselves a lot of difficult questions, but the result is ultimately all the more rewarding.

I cannot imagine that the two leads could've been better cast. The criminally underrated Peter Firth manages to evoke fear, confusion and pity without ever resorting to acting by numbers. There is a coherence to his character which makes us want to put the pieces together, which is precisely why Burton's doctor is so drawn to him in the film. Burton is also on fine form, and Lumet does a wonderful job of keeping him on the screen despite the theatricality of the character and his dialogue, not to mention that of Burton as an actor.

This is not a film I would recommend to many people, as it is not easy viewing and it demands a good deal of emotional intelligence and the patience to use it. This is far from popcorn. If that statement makes you want to see the film even more, I recommend you do so as soon as possible.

Religious allegory, entertaining cinema
At the time this film adaptation of Schaffer's stage play came out, Ithought it was as powerful as any film I'd seen in its allegorical debateon the importance and role of religion, explored through the theme of adisturbed boy who blinds six horses, having begun to worship Equus the godto substitute for a lack of reference points in his own life. Inretrospect some of the power has been diluted, particularly by thespecific language and dated references, but the themes and performancesremain timeless.
Richard Burton could always be relied upon to elevate fine scriptwritingto majestic heights, though at times he comes perilously close to hammingit up and destroying the carefully constructed edifice. This is actuallyno bad thing since Burton embodies the fragility of the human psyche, anessential component of Shaffer's argument. He is never less thanhypnotically watchable, which can also be said of Jenny Agutter!
Burton might be dead, but his work lives on. Equus is a finely-craftedfilm, almost deceptively so, that stands further analysis, but can also beenjoyed at a superficial level. Watch and enjoy!

Powerful but flawed
The play on which this film is based, by Peter Shaffer, was apparently a big hit on Broadway. Sir Peter Shaffer is now 80, and a revival of his excellent play 'The Royal Hunt of the Sun' is about to open at the NFT at the time of writing. Most will know him as the playwright behind Amadeus. Dramatically speaking a great deal happens in Equus, and it is clear why it has such appeal on the stage, also bearing in mind the (kooky) psychoanalytic approach, at a time when R.D. Laing was still in favour.

Central to the play and film is the common theme of the collapse of religious order, the sway of psychoanalysis, and the conflicts within adolescent sexuality of fantasies of power and the realisation of actual powerlessness. Or something like this. One of the really memorable moments is when the boy incessantly, compulsively repeats advertising slogans, as a kind of unthinking, worldly mantra. You realise to what extent he is subject to much larger unconscious forces, and how vulnerable in the face of these he really is. And we realise how little has changed to this day.

While fascinating, of course, the underlying psychoanalytic ideas are dated, and it remains a film (and play) very much of its time. The performances are pretty good, although Burton takes himself too seriously of course. Maybe the parallel with R.D. Laing was intentional, maybe not. Whatever, this will remain a watchable, thought-provoking and at times quite horrific exploration of the adolescent psyche, with enough happening dramatically to be always interesting and sometimes thrilling, a real period piece that still has current appeal. Had I been old enough, though, I would have preferred to see it in its original theatrical incarnation back in 1977, when it must have won over audience and critics alike.