I must admit, I did not know about this film until recently, when I came across it by chance. Well, what a formidable surprise it was, finding out it is actually a great psychological drama.
In a nutshell, Equus tells the story of a psychiatrist treating a teenager who was arrested for blinding six horses at the stable where he used to work. The doctor finds out more and more about the boy's strange obsession with horses, which finally makes him doubt about his own perception of reality and attitude towards life.
The film sucks you in right from the beginning, with Richard Burton's fourth wall breaking monologue setting the tone for what is to come. The rest of the film is a great psychological study of the characters, especially the boy, Alan Strang (brilliantly played by Peter Firth), but also the doctor (one of the last great roles from Richard Burton). What really impresses me here, is how the film delves into the depths of the human mind and represents many of its complexities and contradictions.
Speaking of representation, it is also important to know that Equus is the adaptation of a play of the same name, written by Peter Shaffer. Regarding the dialogues, the film kept the ones from the play. The most interesting thing about the adaptation is how some of the words are converted into images, for example when Alan Strang tells about his experiences with horses. The kind of unsettling and surreal imagery accompanying these moments contributes to the creation of a dream-like mood that takes the film to a new level of immersion.
As for the film's substance, I've read somewhere it is supposed to be a metaphor for homosexuality. I don't know if that is true, anyway, the sexual undertone is clearly there. However, this is far from being the only aspect of it. For me, this film raised fundamental questions about the human condition and about what it means to achieve spiritual freedom. What I mostly like about that is how the film portrays the passion needed to attain this freedom. It acknowledges its positive aspect of exaltation, but focuses on the more intriguing negative aspect of suffering. This struggle is brilliantly represented by the doctor who starts doubting if he has the right to cure Alan, thus easing his suffering but also eliminating his true self and his freedom to live spiritual experiences and be more than the everyday man. Another detail I really enjoyed about this film is the aura it creates around the relationship between Alan and the horses. The whole religious aspect of it was very well developed and had an almost mystical quality to it.
Finally, if I had to point out something negative about this film, I could probably say that, being the adaptation of a play, it's of course very talky and the dialogues are not always easy to follow. However, in my opinion it was a good choice to keep Peter Shaffer's words in the film. This allows the film to go further in the exploration of the character's minds while also being an important part of its mysterious and haunting atmosphere.
So, on the whole I think this is a great film that manages not only to establish particular mood and to tell a compelling story, but also to raise very pertinent questions about the human psyche and our relation to the self and to the world. It tells us about ourselves, as all art should do. The only thing I don't understand is that this is such an obscure film, especially considering it was directed by Sidney Lumet (12 Angry Men, Serpico, etc...). Anyway, this is an excellent film in my opinion and I absolutely recommend anyone to watch this sadly forgotten gem.
In a nutshell, Equus tells the story of a psychiatrist treating a teenager who was arrested for blinding six horses at the stable where he used to work. The doctor finds out more and more about the boy's strange obsession with horses, which finally makes him doubt about his own perception of reality and attitude towards life.
The film sucks you in right from the beginning, with Richard Burton's fourth wall breaking monologue setting the tone for what is to come. The rest of the film is a great psychological study of the characters, especially the boy, Alan Strang (brilliantly played by Peter Firth), but also the doctor (one of the last great roles from Richard Burton). What really impresses me here, is how the film delves into the depths of the human mind and represents many of its complexities and contradictions.
Speaking of representation, it is also important to know that Equus is the adaptation of a play of the same name, written by Peter Shaffer. Regarding the dialogues, the film kept the ones from the play. The most interesting thing about the adaptation is how some of the words are converted into images, for example when Alan Strang tells about his experiences with horses. The kind of unsettling and surreal imagery accompanying these moments contributes to the creation of a dream-like mood that takes the film to a new level of immersion.
As for the film's substance, I've read somewhere it is supposed to be a metaphor for homosexuality. I don't know if that is true, anyway, the sexual undertone is clearly there. However, this is far from being the only aspect of it. For me, this film raised fundamental questions about the human condition and about what it means to achieve spiritual freedom. What I mostly like about that is how the film portrays the passion needed to attain this freedom. It acknowledges its positive aspect of exaltation, but focuses on the more intriguing negative aspect of suffering. This struggle is brilliantly represented by the doctor who starts doubting if he has the right to cure Alan, thus easing his suffering but also eliminating his true self and his freedom to live spiritual experiences and be more than the everyday man. Another detail I really enjoyed about this film is the aura it creates around the relationship between Alan and the horses. The whole religious aspect of it was very well developed and had an almost mystical quality to it.
Finally, if I had to point out something negative about this film, I could probably say that, being the adaptation of a play, it's of course very talky and the dialogues are not always easy to follow. However, in my opinion it was a good choice to keep Peter Shaffer's words in the film. This allows the film to go further in the exploration of the character's minds while also being an important part of its mysterious and haunting atmosphere.
So, on the whole I think this is a great film that manages not only to establish particular mood and to tell a compelling story, but also to raise very pertinent questions about the human psyche and our relation to the self and to the world. It tells us about ourselves, as all art should do. The only thing I don't understand is that this is such an obscure film, especially considering it was directed by Sidney Lumet (12 Angry Men, Serpico, etc...). Anyway, this is an excellent film in my opinion and I absolutely recommend anyone to watch this sadly forgotten gem.
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