Equus (film) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

"Hast thou given the horse strength?

Hast thou clothed his neck with thunder?

The glory of his nostrils is terrible.

He saith among the trumpets,

'Ha, Ha!'"

 

 

"They give us all their strength,

and

we just give them stripes. 

They'll run forever. 

They'll gallop till they die, they will...

If we don't say, 'stop.' 

They live for us...

Just for us...

Their whole lives."

Equus (film) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: Equus is a 1977 British-American drama 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.

Psychiatrist Martin Dysart investigates the savage blinding of six horses with a metal spike in a stable in Hampshire, England. The atrocity was committed by an unassuming 17-year-old stable boy named Alan Strang, the only son of opinionated but inwardly-timid Frank Strang and his genteel, religious wife Dora. As Dysart exposes the truths behind the boy's demons, he finds himself face-to-face with his own.

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 film. Others had praise for both Burton and Firth, who were in the stage versions of the play. The film received mixed reviews, currently holding a 69% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

***