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Equus [1977] | ![Equus [1977]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/419J3F6VPRL._SL160_.jpg)
 enlarge | Director: Sidney Lumet
Actors: Richard Burton, Peter Firth, Colin Blakely, Joan Plowright, Harry Andrews
Studio: MGM Entertainment
Category: DVD
List Price: £12.99
Buy New: £4.98
You Save: £8.01 (62%)
New (7) from £3.69
Rating:  7 reviews
Sales Rank: 10208
Format: Pal
Language: English (Original Language)
Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
Region: 2
Discs: 1
Number Of Discs: 1
Running Time: 135 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 7.1 x 5.4 x 0.6
EAN: 5050070010367
ASIN: B00009XW8H
Theatrical Release Date: March 22, 1978
Release Date: August 4, 2003
Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours
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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
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| Customer Reviews: Read 2 more reviews...
 Remarkably moving December 16, 2007
James the King (...under the stairs)
11 out of 11 found this review helpful
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.
made horses interesting for me. December 15, 2000
6 out of 13 found this review helpful
absolultly brilliant! A faithful representation of the wonderful novel by Peter Shaffer, this centers around a terrible crime commited by a young teenage boy, concerning horses, his pshycopherapist, and his relationship with him, and his family. Love interest is provided by the ever pleasing Jenny Agutter, fresh faced from the railway children.
One of the greatest, EVER! September 10, 2008
SolarisDorian (Uk)
People critisize this film for there own reasons and I think there is a simple reason. They either get it but pretend they dont or they do and say it does not stand up to scrutiny. 2 Things make this film great. GBs greatest and ocasionally worst export the late and greatest of english actors Richard Burton and Peter Shaffers superb play.The film is worth it alone for Burtons monologues which are hair-raisingly superb from the first eerie moment in his dark office to the last scene where the camera pans to his pupil and into the soul of Burtons troubled genius. People who say the psychology is 'cod' are most likely Freudians who dont like the deeply Jungian theme placed so enigmatically in such a mainstream film. Psychology for the masses? Surely not! But yes this film says it all! My only dissapointment is some of the points are lost from stage to screen transition such as the fact that the boys kingdom on stage is littered with the useless artefacts that blight modern life such as electrical goods (In the play the boy is a electrical retailers trainee)and the only thing that survives is the boy singing jingles from commercials which shown in isolation appears merely ideosyncratic. This would explain so much more about the TV world and consumerist society that creates his parents and there neurosis, themselves a microcosm of the death of spirituality and the coming of caterogisation. The mother worships God, the father pornography, the confused son horses, the girl the boy and the psychiatrist worships the boys neurosis as a transferance for his own lack of faith and death in the glare of his empty life. In it can be found endless connections and all are subjective and the real object is the lack of anything fully formed or whole! It said a lot about early 70s society and sadly says a whole lot more about todays and the fact that people dont get it says the most of all. Please watch this film and with an open mind. For me nothing has come close and never will as the great man is gone and the depth of this film has been hollowly ripped off for more palatable and ultimately shallow affairs such as 'Good will hunting' and dont get me wrong I actually love Good Will hunting as a standalone but comparitivly it is but a shell! Watch, watch, WATCH!
 Religious allegory, entertaining cinema April 23, 2004
Andy Millward (Broxbourne, Herts, UK)
10 out of 11 found this review helpful
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 March 15, 2006
Marco Polo Mint (Bristol, UK)
12 out of 14 found this review helpful
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.
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