Amadeus, 1984
The man, the music, the madness.
Amadeus is one of those films that leaves you in a profound, meditative state for a day or two. I don’t think I will ever be able to fully articulate the kind of impact it had on me or do proper justice to its review.
Miloš Forman’s widely celebrated masterpiece details the rivalry between composers Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Antonio Salieri. Every moment of this film deserves praise. It is not intended to be a biopic, as it’s based on the play Amadeus by Peter Shaffer, which in turn was inspired by the 1830 play Mozart and Salieri by Russian poet Alexander Pushkin. Shaffer even called it "a fantasia on the life of Mozart and Salieri." The play uses a rumor to explore the nature of providence and the tragedy of being consumed by envy.
Amadeus is a three-hour-long odyssey that seems to fly by, made all the more remarkable by the fact that the camera rarely moves. Forman has crafted a magnetic film, with soaring music (by Mozart, of course) placed immaculately, matched only by impeccable performances from Tom Hulce and Elizabeth Berridge, with F. Murray Abraham shining the brightest. The film serves as a cautionary tale and an incredible dialectic on envy, faith, power, and finding joy in life by not raging against things you cannot truly change.
Mozart's nickname, "Amadeus," in Latin means "God's beloved." This is the central theme of the film, as Salieri believes Mozart's music is so perfect that the only explanation is that Mozart is merely a vessel for God, who is truly composing the music, or that God bestowed this ultimate talent upon Mozart. Finally, the most incredible and mind-boggling thing about Mozart is that he was even better than what is portrayed in the film.
The film earned 11 Academy Award nominations, winning 8 Oscars, including Best Picture, Art Direction, Costume Design, Directing, Makeup, Sound, Shaffer’s Adapted Screenplay, and Best Actor for F. Murray Abraham.

















