Amadeus
Amadeus
R | 19 September 1984 (USA)
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Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart is a remarkably talented young Viennese composer who unwittingly finds a fierce rival in the disciplined and determined Antonio Salieri. Resenting Mozart for both his hedonistic lifestyle and his undeniable talent, the highly religious Salieri is gradually consumed by his jealousy and becomes obsessed with Mozart's downfall, leading to a devious scheme that has dire consequences for both men.

Reviews
VividSimon

Simply Perfect

Frances Chung

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

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Ezmae Chang

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

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Tobias Burrows

It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.

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laperlealex

This film is so good, interesting and entertaining that I would like the movie to last forever. The strong point of Amadeus is that we wish the best for the 2 characters, Mozart, a childish adult who thinks only of his own success and Salieri who wishes the misfortune for Mozart however we understand the two points of view. The dialogues are interesting, the performances of the 2 actors are memorable, the cinematography is beautiful and the realization of Milos Forman is excellent and of course the music is sublime. What to ask for more. One of the best movies of the 80's.

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merelyaninnuendo

AmadeusAll the music based sequences is shot beautifully and set accordingly and wisely by the makers as it was a major part of the protagonist, and plays a major role in the tale too and is not just another tool that works behind the camera. It is rich on technical aspects like costume design, production design, background score, make-up design and editing. The script is elaborate, satisfying and justified thoroughly through the complex character's perspective whose narration is the window of writer where it can be and is brutally honest and clears up all that is hoax and distraction. Peter Shaffer; the writer, has done an appreciative work on writing this finely detailed script that is full of tactics but is surpassed by its brilliant execution by Milos Forman whose work pays off well in here. The performance objective is scored majestically by F. Murray Abraham and Tom Hulce, in their parallel role are doing some of their best work. The build up to the scrutiny of the politics in here is the key that is developed well enough to lure the audience in. Amadeus dances on the beat rhythmically and stay true to the tone of the feature for around 160 minutes, which doesn't happen often.

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Jack Hawkins (Hawkensian)

At the heart of Amadeus's narrative is Antonio Salieri's jealous admiration for Mozart's prodigious talent, with the wider meaning being about unearned privilege and power attempting to control and hinder creative genius. The most odious example of this is Count Orsini-Rosenberg (Charles Kay), the Emperor's most pompous little minion.It's also a film about the selfishness and immorality of faith, as shown in Salieri's obsessive behaviour and the faith he uses to explain it. Salieri, who jokes that he is the 'patron saint of mediocrity', believes that God gave musical genius to a crude, immature young man like Mozart just to spite him. Blinded by his self-absorption, it doesn't occur to Salieri that his anxieties are trivial and insignificant because he believes God is omnipotent - 'He' can listen to everyone's concerns no matter how trivial they are. So on the delusion continues...The film's main strengths are the leading performances from Abraham and Hulce, the opulent design work and the flashback narrative construction. This combination makes for a very absorbing film for the first 120 minutes or so, but Mozart's quite sudden decline did lose me somewhat. Could bereavement and a challenging project really cause such a spirited young man such damage? Well, it's little surprise that his decline would seem dubious because Mozart's mysterious death remains the subject of heated debate.Criticisms are few and minor. Some of the language is rather inappropriate for a film set in the high-society of 18th century Vienna -would Mozart really have said "kiss my ass"? Also, the film's authenticity was wounded by the American accent of Tom Hulce, who otherwise does a great job.

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gottdeskinos

As an Mozart-admiring and yet hate and jealousy filled composer, Salieri seems to be a compelling vessel for telling us about Mozart's ingenuity - as well as his flaws. But I hope audiences realize that almost everything in this movie regarding the relationship between Mozart and Saliery is simply made up. I enjoyed the realistic depiction of the life in Vienna during that time. Also, the movie partially grants an idea of what Mozart's personality really could have been like. But the whole plot is just a fantasy of Salieri (at least the movie version of Salieri, who is plagued by feelings of guilt, jealousy and self-awareness). Should one take it metaphorically? Mozart's struggle between life and art killed him despite being one of the greatest talents. While Salieri had to outlive him despite not coming close to this genius and being fully aware of it. It's like god's punishment for movie-Salieri.So, one has to keep in mind that this movie has actually only one historical inaccuracy: Salieri telling such a story in real life. The rest is an interesting fantasy.

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