Unparalleled beauty, wit, darkness, genius

Rating: 10/10 (2 April 2010)

If cinema lasts another thousand years, men shall still regard this as its finest hour. Never before have such beautiful words been written about music - whether in film or academia - as Peter Shaffer's exquisite script. Each line is chiselled into perfection. Each scene is contoured with such mastery that it could stand in isolation. F Murray Abraham's embittered snarling Salieri is, simply, one of the greatest portrayals in cinematic history.
The film matches the beauty of Mozart's music, which in itself is sublime on a scale never heard before or since, even when one considers the new Ndubz release of beatbox mastermixes. When lazy ignorant musical journalists compare the modern day chart toppers to the Classical giants, Amadeus reminds us that the majority of the new breed are music illiterates. Mozart's genius and insatiable desire to achieve perfection reminds us that for all the advances in the modern world, we must truly humble ourselves to the towering achievements of our artistic ancestors.