Equus (film)

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Equus
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Sidney Lumet
Produced by	Elliott Kastner Lester Persky Denis Holt
Written by	Peter Shaffer
Starring	Richard Burton Peter Firth Jenny Agutter Joan Plowright Colin Blakely
Music by	Richard Rodney Bennett
Cinematography	Oswald Morris
Editing by	John Victor-Smith
Distributed by	United Artists
Release date(s)	October 16, 1977 March 22, 1978 January 2, 1982
Running time	137 min.
Country	USA
Language	English
Allmovie profile
IMDb profile

Equus is a 1977 film directed by Sidney Lumet and starring Richard Burton. Peter Shaffer wrote the screenplay based on his play Equus. The film also featured Peter Firth, Colin Blakely, Joan Plowright, Eileen Atkins and Jenny Agutter.

[edit] Storyline

A psychiatrist, Martin Dysart (played by Richard Burton), investigates the savage blinding of six horses with a metal spike in a stable in Hampshire, England. The atrocity was committed by an unassuming seventeen-year-old stable boy named Alan Strang (played by Peter Firth), the only son of an opinionated but inwardly-timid father (Colin Blakely) and a genteel, religious mother (Joan Plowright). As Dysart exposes the truths behind the boy's demons, he finds himself face-to-face with his own.

[edit] Version comparison

Unlike the play, the film version was placed in a realistic setting, using real horses. Some critics and theatre purists found this objectionable, arguing that the spirit of the stage play was lost in the movie. The movie was nominated for several Academy Awards: Best Actor in a Leading Role (Richard Burton), Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Peter Firth), and Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium.

[edit] External links

• Equus at the Internet Movie Database

v • d • e Films directed by Sidney Lumet 12 Angry Men (1957) • Stage Struck (1958) • That Kind of Woman (1959) • The Fugitive Kind (1959) • A View from the Bridge (1961) • Long Day's Journey Into Night (1962) • The Pawnbroker (1964) • Fail-Safe (1964) • The Hill (1965) • The Group (1966) • The Deadly Affair (1967) • Bye Bye Braverman (1968) • The Sea Gull (1968) • The Appointment (1969) • King: A Filmed Record... Montgomery to Memphis (1970) • Last of the Mobile Hot Shots (1970) • The Anderson Tapes (1971) • Child's Play (1972) • The Offence (1972) • Serpico (1973) • Lovin' Molly (1974) • Murder on the Orient Express (1974) • Dog Day Afternoon (1975) • Network (1976) • Equus (1977) • The Wiz (1978) • Just Tell Me What You Want (1980) • Prince of the City (1981) • Deathtrap (1982) • The Verdict (1982) • Daniel (1983) • Garbo Talks (1984) • Power (1986) • The Morning After (1986) • Running on Empty (1988) • Family Business (1989) • Q & A (1990) • A Stranger Among Us (1992) • Guilty as Sin (1993) • Night Falls on Manhattan (1997) • Critical Care (1997) • Gloria (1999) • Strip Search (2004) • Find Me Guilty (2006) • Before the Devil Knows You're Dead (2007)

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