Equus

Released by: Twilight Time Releasing
Released on: March 8th, 2014.
Director: Sidney Lumet, Tony Palmer
Cast: Richard Burton, Harry Andrews, Peter Firth, Eileen Atkins, Colin Blakely, Jenny Agutter
Year: 1977
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The Movie:

A filmed version of the stage play by Sir Peter Shaffer, who personally re-wrote his play into screenplay format, 1977's Equus is a dark and strange picture that takes place in England and tells the story of a psychiatrist named Martin Dysart (Richard Burton). When the movie begins he's been called to investigate a case in which a seventeen year old boy named Alan Strang (Peter Firth) has been arrested for blinding a half a dozen horses by using a metal spike. The town magistrate, Hesther Soloman (Eileen Atkins), figures Dysart might be able to get into Strang's head and figure out exactly why the young man did what he did and so Dysart sets out to do just that.

Early in the case he meets Strang's parents, a devoutly religious and meek woman named Dora (Joan Plowright) and her sexually repressed outspoken husband Frank (Colin Blakely), and shortly after he figures that the boy's strict upbringing might have had something to do with all of this. The more he digs, the more he uncovers to back this up, particularly once he starts looking into Strang's convictions in regards to Equus, an equine messiah, which in turn has led to some less than conventional sexual impulses on the part of Alan. His objectification of horses and inability to deal with his impotence manifests in some remarkably unhealthy ways.

Structured almost like a typical whodunit, Equus is a strange picture that deals with an even stranger subject. Extremely controversial in its time for Firth's three scenes of full frontal male nudity the film deals in some metaphors that would indicate that much of this is an allegory for a young man trying to figure out his own sexual identity and to come to terms with the possibility that he may in fact be a homosexual. As this comes to light, much of it through monologues delivered by Burton's character, Strang's actions still aren't perfectly explained but are at least more understandable given what he's gone through and how his belief system has taken shape over the years. It also raises interesting questions about how psychology and religion interact and the respective roles they play in life.

The script is interesting, if flawed. Much of the dialogue comes across as ham-fisted, even pretentious at times, but there's depth here and the movie is ripe with the opportunity to dig deep and make what you will of it. The production values are solid, the cinematography frequently impressive and when combined with the choices in lighting often quite evocative. What really stands out here, however, are the performances. While Firth, who played the part on stage frequently before this movie was made, does come across as (understandably) stagey he is quite bold and interesting to watch. Some of this is due to the writing but just as much credit goes to him for his delivery. Burton, who was Oscar nominated for his work here, is magnetic as the doctor. He's got an intensity here that is hypnotic and engrossing and he truly delivers exemplary work.

Video/Audio/Extras:

Equus arrives on Blu-ray framed at 1.85.1 widescreen in AVC encoded 1080p high definition and it looks excellent. Colors are reproduced very naturally here while black levels stay deep and true. Shadow detail tends to be quite strong and the image is crisp and clean without looking to have been overly processed at all. That means there's a good amount of film grain here, but the elements were obviously in good shape as print damage is kept to a minimum. Flesh tones look lifelike and appropriately warm and the moments of stark visual contrast that are used throughout the movie really benefit from this excellent transfer.

Audio chores are handled by an English language DTS-HD Mono track. The dialogue in the movie does most of the heavy lifting here, it's not a picture with a whole lot of sound effects, but the levels are nicely balanced and there is some solid depth for most of the picture. The score has good tone and strong clarity and there are no issues with any hiss or distortion to note.

Equss gets an informative audio commentary from Twilight Time's resident film historians Julie Kirgo and Nick Redman that sheds plenty of welcome light on the history of this odd picture. There's a lot of good biographical information relayed here about Lumet and Burton, probably the two biggest names associated with the picture, but they don't short change the rest of the cast and crew either. Additionally they provide some critical analysis of the movie's effectiveness in dealing with its themes and offer up a solid selection of interesting facts and trivia relating to the feature. It's a good listen, it's basically 'Equus 101' and it proves to be a solid document of the movie's history.

On top of that, and technically making this disc a double feature, the disc also includes an HD presentation of the feature length documentary In From The Cold: The World Of Richard Burton that was directed by Tony Palmer in 1988. Presented in AVC encode 1.66.1 widescreen in 1080p with DTS-HD 2.0 English audio, this is a wonderfully comprehensive biographical representation of Burton and his impressive filmography. Clips from different productions made throughout the span of his career are used to illustrate the scope and range of his work while interviews with those who knew him and worked with him help to fill in the details about the man and his life off screen. There are some great vintage interview clips with Burton himself in here as well and it's a very well made and thorough look back at the man and his considerable star power.

Additionally we get the film's original US theatrical trailer, an MGM 90^th Anniversary trailer and Richard Rodney Bennett's score presented as its own isolated DTS-HD track and sounding great. Menus and chapter stops are included on the disc and inside the keepcase is a full color booklet of liner notes once again featuring some insightful writing on the history of this picture from Julie Kirgo.

The Final Word:

Equus is a solid mystery, a well-acted film that really makes the most out of Burton's superb performance and which bravely lets its script take the audience into some decidedly dark territory. It's not an easy film to appreciate on some levels, but for those willing to think about it and keep an open mind, it can be quite fascinating. Twilight Time's Blu-ray debut of the film offers up the movie in excellent condition with an illuminating commentary and a documentary so good it honestly could have been released on its own! A very strong release through and through.

Click on the images below for full sized Blu-ray screen caps!