Wonderfully entertaining period drama

Rating: Null/10 (6 August 2000)

the basic plot: A boorish, but unimaginabally gifted young talent named Amadeus Mozart arrives in Vienna from Salzburg , and soon marries Constanza Weber. His rival and other court composer and teacher, Salieri , a mannered and polite man, but with mediocre talent, tries to ruin him by exposing unlawful plans for opera, and then by having him write a funeral concerto which he believes is for himself.This is told in flashback by an old Salieri in an asylum to a priest.
The praise:Thoroughly entertaining.F. Murray Abraham and Tom Hulce are both excellent in their roles as Salieri and Mozart,and Elizabeth Aldridge and Roy dotrice do their parts as Constanza and Leopold Mozart well. The film is both comic and powerfully full of bittersweet drama, especially during the last part in which Mozart is writing the funeral concerto. Full of poignant nararation by F. Murray Abraham, in an excellent role which won him an Oscar, it also has a feel of masques, decorative follies and elaborate costumes, architecture and hair that characterize the period. The message that the movie gets across is that you can not judge a persons character by their talent, and along the way you listen to a lot of great music and the genius of Mozart is explained . The ending in which Salieri proclaims himself King of mediocrity is classic.
The flaws: A little too long.