Equus [Blu-ray]

Director: Sidney Lumet Sidney Lumet

Overview

Richard Burton plays a psychiatrist who attempts to discover why young Peter Firth has taken to mutilating live horses. In probing Firth's psyche, Burton discovers that the source of the boy's obsession is his mother, Joan Plowright, who has raised Firth with a convoluted set of values. Even as he gets closer to the reason behind Firth's horrendous acts, Burton discovers many previously locked-away secrets within himself. Equus was based on the play by Peter Schaffer who received an Academy Award Nomination for his adapted screenplay.

Product Details

Release Date:	08/09/2022
UPC:	0850035985427
Original Release:	1977
Rating:	R
Source:	Sandpiper Pictures
Language:	English
Time:	2:18:00
Sales rank:	6,437

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Richard Burton	Martin Dysart
Peter Firth	Alan Strang
Colin Blakely	Frank Strang
Joan Plowright	Dora Strang
Harry Andrews	Harry Dalton
Eileen Atkins	Magistrate Hesther Saloman
Jenny Agutter	Jill Mason
John Wyman	The Horseman
Kate Reid	Margaret Dysart
Ken James	Mr. Pearce
Elva May Hoover	Miss Raintree
James Hurdle	Mr. Davies
Karen Pearson	Mary
David Gardner	Dr. Bennett
Patrick Brymer	Hospital Patient
Sheldon Rybowski	First Child
Sufi Bukhari	Second Child
Anita Van Hezewyck	Horse Trainer
Mark Parr	Clown
Frazier Mohawk	Ringmaster
Richard Rodney Bennett	Composer

Technical Credits

Peter Shaffer

Elliott Kastner	Producer
Sidney Lumet	Director
Lester Persky	Producer
Peter Shaffer	Screenwriter
Richard Vorisek	Sound/Sound Designer

Editorial Reviews

In Sidney Lumet's cinematic adaptation of Peter Shaffer's psychological drama Equus, Richard Burton must portray a psychiatrist who has lost faith in himself. He is a hollowed-out man in a stultifying marriage who no longer believes that his work with severely troubled teenagers does any good whatsoever. He is savvy enough to understand what is happening to him, but is still unable to rouse himself out of his malaise. Burton inhabits this character with such sadness and such self-directed anger that it is easy to see why many people consider this his last great performance. Shaffer's screenplay allows Burton to have a handful of very showy monologues presented by Lumet directly into the camera and a series of more subtle exchanges with the troubled young man played by Peter Firth. Burton's face, which was showing the effects of years of heavy alcohol use, looks heavy and it gives the performance a gravitas that dominates the drama -- so much so that it is easy to forget about Firth's patient when he is offscreen. More than most directors, Lumet has a knack for bringing stage material to the screen. He respects the theatrical aspects of the piece, while still making it cinematic. His skills do not fail him here. In an opening flash-forward, Lumet allows the audience to see how distraught Burton's character will become before he reveals the patient. And the horses are gloriously photographed, as if the audience is allowed to see them as Firth's character does. Equus is an accomplished piece of no-frills filmmaking, elevated by an outstanding lead performance.