Equus
Welcome to Screen Gems, our weekend delves into adjacent queer and queer headlines from the past that deserve a watch or re-watch.
The Heckle: Equus
Playwright Peter Shaffer caused a stir in 1973 with this play about a psychiatrist treating a teenager after he blinded a stable full of horses. The conversation about the premise and “meaning” of Equus continued when the film adaptation, directed by Sidney Lumet, hit screens in 1977.
The Plot: A neurotic psychiatrist named Dysart (Richard Burton) begins treating 17-year-old Alan (Peter Firth) after the latter blinds the aforementioned horses. Dysart is intrigued by the convoluted way Alan mixes biblical theology with his love of horses, ultimately worshiping an all-powerful horse god named Equus. Dysart also discovers that Alan has some sort of sexual fascination with horses – riding them naked at night, or self-flogging and masturbating while reciting strange horse genealogies. Treating Alan brings a new enthusiasm to the mundane practice of Dysart, although as he ventures deeper into Alan’s psyche he begins to question his own medical ethics.
Equus won Oscar nominations for Shaffer, Burton and Firth, as audiences and critics continued to debate the symbolism of the plot. Should we take for granted that Alan is a zoophile? Or, given that Shaffer is a gay man, does Equus criticize the sexual shame around homosexuality? Twist? Does Dysart’s disillusionment come from knowing the futility and evil of conversion therapy?
Dear reader, we do not know. Equus has a smoke-like quality – whenever it seems like we can grasp the story’s deeper meanings, they just seem to just slip away. In this case, that makes it all the more convincing. It helps, of course, to have two sublime actors such as Burton and Firth (who reprized their roles on stage for the film) carrying the gear. It also helps that Shaffer is one of the great playwrights of our time – his dialogue gives debates poetic urgency, without ever appearing obvious or didactic. We recommend the film as an intriguing mediation on sex and shame – something gay people know all too well. Here is a film which captivates by its performances and its dialogues. What it all means is as intriguing as it is elusive.
Available on DVD and Blu-Ray. Hey MGM / Amazon, isn’t it time to get this one on Prime?
