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. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
The acting of Richard Burton and Peter Firth in their Oscar-nominated turns is good, but writer Shaffer and Sidney Lumet can't open up the play, which on screen seems too verbose and pretentious with its philosophical issues.
Interesting, well acted but extremely grim. There's the feeling that a good deal of subtext was removed because of the times in which it was made. A prime candidate for a remake.
June 29, 2009
jay nixon
Super Reviewer
Peter Firth's performance definitely beat Daniel Radcliffe's one-note angst, but as a film, I don't think the story works. The climactic scenes (orgasm on Nugget, blinding of horses) contained within the cinematic frame lost much of the stage production's frenetic chaos. Didn't dig the breaking of the fourth wall
either. Seemed like an uninspired choice.
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