Watching this film was truly like seeing one of Freud's cases brought to life, as I'm sure they wouldn't deny the inspiration. It also succeeds in giving us a sense of reality, it feels like real pain, real angst...especially if we take a look at Richard Burton's initial monologue, lines delivered so intensely. The sorrow in his eyes repeating his tormenting questions to us, which will never be answered. Even though patients may be "cured" and go on with their lives, that element of mystery will always remain...but why did it happen like this? what are the odds that something like this ever afflict a boy in such a wild manner? Peter Firth is great as well, at times his acting (and his physical traits) reminded me of Malcolm McDowell in A Clockwork Orange. I would say playing Alan Strang's part was as bold as playing Alex DeLarge, given its exposition and demanding surrender to the part. The movie gives us a detective task, which is to take all of those fragments of Alan's life and dare to put it together, to make some sense. Lots of speculations cross our minds, is his obsession with horses the product of sexual repression? of the ultra-religious aspects of his primary relations? both? we are left unanswered, as we watch Dr. Dysart be put to test against Alan's provocations. That is also an interesting example of how a doctor-patient relationship can develop. It was a challenge the doctor wasn't expecting to face, after so many years of easy practice...he found out that a real relationship with a patient is made of two ways.

one of Richard Burton splendid roles. the convincing performance of Peter Firth. a good play. short, one of movies who remains a web of questions, emotions, stains of feelings because it is a kind of descent in yourself. sure, many critics , result of nostalgia for play adaptation on stage. but it is not a version. only a precise film inspired by the Schaffer universe. the director does an admirable work first for refuse of confrontation with the text. it is a splendid exploration of details and a fight between two manners to discover life. it is a precise construction using few extraordinaries images. a film about lost and axis of life, about values and need to escape from a fake image of world. it is necessary to see it. not only for acting - it is beautiful at whole. not for subject - it could be not new. but for the grace of details. and for the pillars- questions who can give another nuance , for two hours to an ordinary day.

I love the movies of Sidney Lumet, well most anyway, and I feel Equus while not his best film is one of his better ones. Of his movies I think Equus is his most haunting film and also one of his most bold in the subject matter and what it tries to convey. The film is beautifully and atmospherically filmed and Lumet does a superb job directing. The dialogue is intense, deep and thoughtful and the story is compelling and really quite moving too. The acting is excellent, with Richard Burton really engrossing himself into the role and Peter Firth's haunting style of acting riveting. Joan Plowright and Jenny Agutter also give fine accounts of themselves. All in all, a bold and haunting film. 10/10 Bethany Cox

Stable boy Alan Strang (Peter Firth) has blinded a number of horses and no one can figure out why. Psychiatrist Martin Dysart (Richard Burton) tries to find out why.I've never seen the stage play so I can't compare it to that but, on its own, this is a pretty dull movie. For starters the main character Alan was an incredibly unlikable jerk. I couldn't have cared less about what happened to him. I thought it was laughably obvious--I had figured out what was going on long before they actually tell us. The pacing in this one is leaden--every scene seems to be dragged out as much as possible. Also the symbolism and "meaning" of this film is about as subtle as a sledgehammer. I actually started to get insulted that everything was being spelled out for us--and in an incredibly slow manner too. It seems the filmmakers thought the audience was composed of a bunch of idiots. It also has a sequence of truly horrifying violence at the end that really didn't need to have been shown. Also there's plenty of nudity in this mostly by Peter Firth.The only thing saving this from being a total disaster was the acting. Joan Plowright is good as Strang's mother and Firth was also good in a very difficult role. But this is Burton's film all the way. He's just superb in his role and manages to single-handedly save this from totally unwatchable. Still, his great acting can't save this film from being a total bore. A 4--and that's just for Burton. This was a critical bomb when it came out--it's easy to see why.