Amadeus

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Amadeus

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Amadeus

F Murray Abraham, Tom Hulce, Elizabeth Berridge, Roy Dotrice, Simon Callow

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's career and life are threatened by an envious court composer Antonio Salieri.

Id: 10906562

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Amadeus Recent Reviews
  • irisheyes686
    August 16, 2009
    irisheyes686
    A bit long, but it was very good. The acting was awesome, and I was surprised that I didn't get bored at all, since I'm not a big classical music fan.
  • sanjurosamurai
    May 26, 2009
    sanjurosamurai
    can be accused of being a tad overlong, but all in all this is a phenomenal film. the music and opera scenes are the real draw, but the entire film is engaging and delightful. the film had a decidingly 80's feel but this doesnt detract at all from what is easily one of the best...( read more) films of the entire decade.
  • mrpopcorn
    April 23, 2009
    mrpopcorn
    "Amadeus. The man. The music. The magic. The madness. The murder. The mystery. The motion picture."

    The incredible story of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, told in flashback mode by Antonio Salieri - now confined to an insane asylum.

    ...( read more)>REVIEW
    "Amadeus" is based on the play of the same name by Peter Shaffer. It portrays a fictionalized account of the life of famous classical composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, emphasizing an intense rivalry between him and composer Antonio Salieri. The film creates a great sense of period with lavish sets and elegant costumes.

    Tom Hulce leads the cast as Mozart with great energy and he creates a memorable character. Mozart is portrayed as a man whose vices and juvenile conduct are only exceeded by his genius in creating music. My favorite performance of the film, however, is F. Murray Abraham's skillful performance as Mozart's rival, Antonio Salieri. He convincingly creates a Salieri that narrates the story as a conniving and bitter man, but manages to elicit sympathy when he laments that he can never be as prolific or well-known as Mozart. There are excellent supporting performances in the film, too, including Elizabeth Berridge as Mozart's patient wife Constanze and Jeffrey Jones as Emperor Joseph II with a matter-of-fact manner.

    The rivalry between Mozart and Salieri is well-developed and the film never becomes tiresome despite its length. In addition to the characterizations, the film appropriately includes dazzling segments of classical music and representations of staged operas. The end narration of Salieri is very well-written and touching. Truly F. Murray Abraham's Salieri is a champion for mediocrity.
  • AgentLexi2132
    February 18, 2009
    AgentLexi2132
    ''I was staring through the cage of those meticulous ink strokes - at an absolute beauty.''

    The incredible story of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, told in flashback mode by Antonio Salieri - now confined to an insane asylum.

    F. Murray Abraham: Antonio Salieri

    ...( read more)>

    Tom Hulce: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

    Simply Beautiful, musical and a genius study of two men. One hell bent on destroying the other in a haze of jealousy.

    Amadeus is a masterpiece of music and a haunting tragic story of Mozart with a complex duality to his character.
    F. Murray Abraham as Antonio Salieri is fascinating as the man who idolizes Mozart, who burns with jealousy at him, at a talent and creativity he can never possess or muster. We first see him in his old age in a squalid state of madness and memory, in the confines of an asylum.
    His pain is wonderfully conveyed, there's a blur between who you feel for, the jealousy burning in his eyes, i love it!
    He refers to Mozart as a creature, a plague upon the world and his life, a misery with his talent he inflicts, his talent that should of been Antonio Salieris, but is denied by the obnoxious yet inspirational faceted Mozart.
    Antonio Salieri is the mirror reflection of Mozart twisted in the shadows, unlike Mozart's crazy unpractical way Antonio is humble, craving the very thing Mozart possesses, what he takes for granted and uses for his own benefit.
    He admires him from afar and later helps him to write when he falls ill. Them writing a masterpiece is a wonder to behold.

    ''I heard the music of true forgiveness filling the theater, conferring on all who sat there, perfect absolution. God was singing through this little man to all the world, unstoppable, making my defeat more bitter with every passing bar.''

    The beginning is genius yet gutting and in a way amusing:
    Father Vogler: Oh, that's charming! I'm sorry, I didn't know you wrote that.
    Salieri: I didn't. That was Mozart.

    Tom Hulce as Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart is a wonder to behold, a genius in music but his character, his laugh, his mannerisms are a vast contrast to his intellectual artistic musical vision. He's got controversial ideas that he pulls off much to the disgust of Antonio Salieri.
    Arrogant, childish and very rash in his way, which wasn't my image of Mozart yet shows a talent for musical genius isn't everything.
    Tom Hulce I've seen in other films before but this is the best ever performance I've seen him achieve, latest film i saw him in was Stranger Than Fiction, so he's still around in acting terms.

    It is not clear if Salieri the anti-God actually killed Mozart or if it was the natural order of things, but Salieri gets his comeuppance, his own "Confutatis maledictis" that is helped along by the more savvy Constanze, who knows what sort of man Salieri really is. The scene where Salieri and Mozart hammer out the Mass is one of the most exciting scenes of cinema in the '80s -- with one man sitting at a desk and the other lying in a bed!

    In real life, Antonio Salieri was an accomplished musician, many of whose works remain in print. His stuff fell out of favor -- but Vivaldi predated Mozart and Salieri, and his music was barely heard after his death until the 20th century! Musical tastes change -- how many discotheques are open in the 21st century? Not as many as in the 1970s, I warrant. And there are ample implications in the historical record that Salieri and Mozart got along quite well. So the story inside the beautiful decor is a libelous fiction -- in fact, it's a lot of hooey. But when have novels or films cared for historical fact over a cracking good story? And it's probably more correct to call it a parable.

    Mozart and Salieri aren't really meant to be embodiments of their real-life counterparts. Salieri is an archetype. And if Mozart was this much of a bozo in real life he deserved all he got.

    All the performances are wonderful, especially in the Emperor's court. Charles Kay is superb, Jonathan Moore is the epitome of sincerity, and Jeffrey Jones expresses more by his extreme underplaying than many more notable actors do in several movies of bluster. Sometimes you wonder if someone ought to take Jones' pulse, but you're always aware of what the emperor is thinking.

    The costumes perfect, the beautiful ornate locations shown in all their splendor, all effortlessly combined in a dazzling array of bewitchment and enlightenment.

    Us the audience begin to formulate what will happen and how plotting from madness and hatred begins to surface. When the souls of the music leap forth from the pages, when genius turns to betrayal and madness you know you have a masterpiece of grandeur and wonderment.

    Amadeus is a legendary masterpiece of epic proportions.

    ''Your merciful God...rather than let a mediocity...Share in the smallest part of his glory. He killed Mozart. And kept me alive to torture. 32 years of torture. 32 years...of slowly watching myself become extinct! My music growing fainter, all the time fainter till no one plays at all. And his...''
  • kiriyamakazou
    August 24, 2008
    kiriyamakazou
    A grand sumptuous tale of jealousy and talent. Abraham, though not particularly sympathetic does create an empathetic lead. He's the man who tires so hard to achieve what comes so naturally to a much younger composer. He blames God at every turn, never taking responsibility for h...( read more)is actions leading himself to the suicide attempt that opens the film. Hulce is particularly incredible in this film. According to Abraham we should hate him, but it is plain to see he is a justifiably arrogant young man whominsults others with his talent. His touch up of one of Salieri's simple marches is painful not just for Salieri but also for us as Mozart is blissfully unaware of the pain he causes. The music needless to say is fantastic, discarding the need for any original accompaniments. The visuals are also extravagant, showing in full cinematic swing the glory of Mozart's operas. Amadeus is a fine achievement, even though the directors cut I watched could have done with a few cuts to heighten the tension in the final moments.
  • nyserg
    December 22, 2009
    nyserg
    My favorite movie ever! I know every word from memory.
  • mojo00
    December 22, 2009
    mojo00
    This movie was okay. It started off really slow and the movie was way too long for one sitting. I had a hard time coming into the story but after a while it became entertaining. Although the movie would jump back and forth to boring and entertaining ever-so-often.
    I wouldn't see...( read more) this movie more than once though, and it's not even a movie I'd see without being forced to see it!
  • kristiehunter
    December 16, 2009
    kristiehunter
    This is an absolutely beautiful film (costumes, sets, colour, cinematography, acting). Hopefully people don't take the story as factual, because it's not (and not meant to be)--which makes it more interesting. Music at the calibre of high Classical composers is hard to describe...( read more) as perfectly as Peter Shaffer does through the character of Salieri. The film's atmosphere is heightened by the use of the authentic theatres and locations in Europe and unaltered music by Mozart.
  • ALPENGIRL
    December 13, 2009
    ALPENGIRL
    life story of GREAT MOZART.
  • daly04
    December 12, 2009
    daly04
    LOVED IT! long but so worth it!
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