Sheer brilliance.

Rating: 10/10 (10 June 2006)

This is for me quite simply, the best movie ever made. The acting, photography, costumes, settings and screenplay are all top notch. Milos Forman brings the world of Mozart to life and all the characters are beautifully cast. I can't think of a single performance that wasn't spot on, which says a lot. F.Murray Abraham in particular gives arguably the greatest performance in movie history as Antonio Salieri. He manages wonderfully to convey the pathos and contradictions of his character, caught as he is between admiration and hatred for Mozart, between his humility and passion for music and his consuming envy of the foul mouthed little genius who outshines him. Practically every scene is a masterpiece. Add to that the music of Mozart, Salieri, Haydn and others and you have a recipe for sheer perfection. The proof of that is that it never loses its magic no matter how many times one sees it,which is the ultimate test of a great movie.