Equus (1977)

	Directed by: Sidney Lumet	COUNTRY USA GENRE Drama NORWEGIAN TITLE Equus RUNNING TIME 137 minutes
	Produced by: Elliott Kastner Lester Persky
	Written by (based on his own play): Peter Shaffer

Cast includes:
CHARACTER	ACTOR/ACTRESS	RATING
Dr. Martin Dysart	Richard Burton	½
Alan Strang	Peter Firth
Frank Strang	Colin Blakeley
Dora Strang	Joan Plowright
Harry Dalton	Harry Andrews	½
Hesther Saloman	Eileen Atkins
Jill Mason	Jenny Agutter	½

Review

Sidney Lumet’s adaptation of Peter Shaffer’s acclaimed play lands stiff and airless on screen. Shaffer wrote the script himself, but his dialogue feels oblivious to the demands of cinema, and Lumet directs without conviction or a real feel for how to visualise it all. The story revolves around a 17-year-old stable boy (Peter Firth) who is accused of blinding six horses with a sickle, and is assigned for treatment by the disillusioned psychiatrist Dr. Martin Dysart (Richard Burton). The veteran Welshman brings energy and devotion to the lead, but his many lofty monologues – carved for the stage – come off as overly interpretive here.

Where the film does catch fire is in Burton’s charged exchanges with the powerful Firth, in which the drama burns brighter and the film’s thematic weight comes alive. Unfortunately, the road there is too drawn-out, too flat, and filled with Burton’s somewhat cumbersome interactions with the supporting characters. As a result, the mystery fails to catch fire until Firth lays his cards on the table through a few fascinating flashbacks. Burton’s final monologue is also thought-provoking, hinting at the film this might have been with a sharper adaptation and somewhat looser, naturalistic groundwork.