Film Forum

U.S., 1984
Directed by Miloš Forman
Starring F. Murray Abraham, Tom Hulce, Elizabeth Berridge, Roy Dotrice
Screenplay adapted by Peter Shaffer from his 1979 stage play of the same name.
Produced by Saul Zaentz
Approx. 158 min. 35mm print courtesy Museum of Modern Art.

Forman collected another Oscar for best director, along with awards for best picture and six others, for this rousing adaptation of Peter Shaffer’s stage play about the rivalry between the composers Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (Tom Hulce) and Antonio Salieri (F. Murray Abraham). In telling the story through Salieri’s perspective, “Amadeus” becomes a drama about deranged jealousy and betrayal as Salieri fumes over his prodigious counterpart, who is seen as immature and unworthy of his superior talent. Yet through the heat of Salieri’s contempt, Mozart’s compositions come alive with fresh urgency: AMADEUS isn’t a stodgy costume piece for classical music fans only, it’s a gripping drama about a divine gift and its costs. – Scott Tobias, The New York Times

Reviews

“This is Mozart as an eighteenth-century Bruce Springsteen, and yet (here is the genius of the movie) there is nothing cheap or unworthy about the approach.”
– Roger Ebert

“Antonio Salieri, one of the most competent composers of his age, finds himself in competition with Mozart. This turns him into a hate-filled monster whose only aim in life is to ruin his more talented colleague. None the less Salieri emerges as the more tragic and sympathetic character, partly because he alone, of all his contemporaries, can appreciate this almost perfect music, and - more importantly, perhaps - because he speaks up for all of us whose talents fall short of our desires.”
– Time Out

“There are films that take your breath away before they’ve even begun. The first four minutes of Miloš Forman’s AMADEUS – the credits, in fact – contain more drama and pathos than many directors manage in 120.”
– The Guardian