Director's Cut - too many words

Rating: 10/10 (27 December 2014)

I'm not sure why directors are not the best judges of what should be kept and what cut from the final versions of their movies, but the director's cut of this movie, like so many others, shows that they often are not. Perhaps it is because they are too involved in the work to see it objectively?
When this movie first came out in 1984, I saw it in the theater 20-30 times. Each time I marveled at how well it was made.
Until tonight, I had not seen it since 1984, as I didn't have any desire to see it on TV. It was run on PBS tonight, however, and to be social, I watched it with my sister. I was also curious to see the director's cut, which is evidently 20 minutes longer.
It was easy for me to spot those extra 20 minutes, the only scenes I did not recognize. They were, primarily, the two scenes dealing with Salieri's suggestion to Costanza that she return later and spend the night with him if she wants him to see that Mozart gets the appointment as music teacher to the princess, and the two scenes dealing with the wealthy noble with the noisy dogs who is looking for a music teacher for his shy daughter. The second pair of scenes really adds nothing to the movie. The first two cast Salieri in even a more negative light. None of them is in any way necessary, and the two scenes in the country do slow the movie down. At 160 minutes, the movie never dragged for me. At 180, with those extra 20 minutes, it did sometimes seem to dawdle.
The 160 minute theatrical release is a true masterpiece. The 180 minute director's cut isn't terrible, but I can think of no reason to recommend it for a first viewing.