I hate costume dramas, but not this one.

Rating: 9/10 (11 January 2005)

I've always hated costume dramas, especially when the story is situated in 18th century Austria or Germany. There is just too much gold foil, too much ugly wigs and pompous costumes, too much over the top decors, just too much of everything that I detest.
Big was my surprise when I saw "Amadeus". For the first time I wasn't trying to switch channels as soon as possible. From the first minute on it had my attention and never let me go, not even after the movie was finished. What I liked most was the co-operation between the music and the images. It all added to the drama. If a modern composer had written the music for some parts of the movie, I'm sure it wouldn't have been as great as it was now. I've never been a huge fan of classical music, but I sure can appreciate it from time to time. And there can be no doubt about how good the music in this movie is of course. It's Mozart, what more do you need? If you can't appreciate this music at all, than I'm afraid there is something wrong with your education. There is more in life than screaming guitars or techno beats.
So for me the big star in this movie was the music, but I have to say that I also liked the way the story was told. I liked the flashbacks, telling the story from Salieri's point of view, the old and bitter man who now lives in an insane asylum, completely forgotten and still in Mozart's shadow. He explains to a priest what exactly had happened and why he always wanted to murder Mozart. I don't really know if all this is historically accurate, but I don't have any doubts about the fact that this is good cinema.
Overall the movie was great, but sometimes there were a few details that bothered me. My feelings about the costumes, the wigs and typical architecture you already know, but there were also other things. Mozart's giggle for instance. It annoyed me enormously. I understand that it shows that this man was still very immature from time to time, that he sometimes still acted like a child, but still... Nevertheless I have to admit that this is a wonderful movie and despite some minor flaws it was almost perfect. I give it a 9/10.