Nonureva Really Surprised!

ReaderKenka Let's be realistic.

SoftInloveRox Horrible, fascist and poorly acted

Erica Derrick By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

Lee Eisenberg Horror is a broad genre in cinema. The usual understanding thereof is murderers or supernatural beings tearing people apart. Less focus is on personal horror; that is, one's own demons. Sidney Lumet's adaptation of Peter Shaffer's "Equus" does a fine job looking at this topic. Richard Burton plays a jaded psychiatrist hired to fine out why a teenager (Peter Firth) blinded six horses. What follows is not only a penetration of the teenager's disturbed psyche, but also a penetration of the psychiatrist's demons.Early in the movie, the psychiatrist attempts to talk to the teenager, who only rattles off advertising slogans. This reminded me of the scene in "Being There" where the simple-minded gardener parrots things that he heard on TV, which get mistaken for profound intellectual statements. Of course, there's nothing simple about this boy. Understanding his mental state requires a significant attention span. Even knowing the outcome of his mental instability, the scene where he inflicts it is still a shock.Burton and Firth turn in fine performances, as do Colin Blakely as the strict father, Joan Plowright as the devoutly religious mother, Harry Andrews as the stable owner, and Jenny Agutter as one of the other employees. Peter Shaffer later wrote "Amadeus", which also got adapted as a fine movie. I recommend both.Between this movie and "An American Werewolf in London", Jenny Agutter probably turned a lot of boys into men.

themagicflyingpandabear ... What more is there to know? If I could explain this movie to someone, I would say "A mentally ill boy does things with a horse that are sick and inappropriate." I didn't watch the play, but it looks more intriguing than the movie. Seemed like the movie lost the magic of the play.The main character was the biggest problem. He is not a smart, philosophical person. He barely explains his behaviors and always snaps at his counselor and parents in anger. He just does whatever he wants. He has orgasms on the horse and touches its private parts for his own selfish pleasures (without the horse's consent). Even when the horseman approached him on the beach, he did not say a single word to him and stared at the horse. The boy is mentally ill, but there's no excuse for being that silly.It's a film for someone who likes "straightjacket entertainment." It worked as a tragedy, too. He loved a horse but could not love a real human being. Mostly because he was self-centered. Did not enjoy watching him drive everyone away. However, I did enjoy the scene where he rode the horse on the beach. But it seems like the movie was not in the same league with the play.

TheLittleSongbird 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

secondtake Equus (1977)A young man turns a troubled childhood into a bizarre affliction confusing love and worship and horses and best friends in a strange, surreal, beautiful, confounding mashup.Is this movie about psychology? Philosophy? Fantasy?Are we watching the younger main character, the troubled youth played by Peter Firth? Or is this a roundabout way to see the older one, a seemingly untroubled psychiatrist played by Richard Burton? I don't think there are answers exactly here, and that's probably a good thing. It's not really a movie that sets out to explain things, but simply to reveal a fascinating situation from the inside, from the inside of their heads, even, as much as possible.But okay. Being in love, somehow, with horses, or with the idea of horses, or both, and acting on that love, is weird, and so kind of fun in a sensationalist way. Unfortunately, the movie makes this whole condition and its meaning grandiose. When it explores the young man's passions, his entrapment at home, or his really sympathetic state of mind (never mind how he twists it cruelly), it's strong. But when it becomes this giant problem for mankind, larger than Shakespeare, a hugely disturbing and hyped up situation fraught with world rattling significance? Well, it's just indulgent and almost laughable. Yes, the way these extremes are filmed and reenacted and imagined is both beautiful, and at one point, shockingly violent. But it isn't enough.Fortunately, Burton is one of those deeply committed, vibrant and convincing actors who can raise up a movie like this. "Equus" is a good movie, sometimes a fantastic movie, inventive and intimate and exploratory. Firth (largely a television actor) is quite a sympathetic character and he plays his role with abandonment, to his credit.If you love horses, you might think this movie is up your alley, but beware on that score, because of the violence. If you love psychology, there is a curious pathology explored here, and that might hold water. If you love Burton, you're in for a treat. He's terrific.