Exciting, Bombastic, it's Amadeus

Rating: 10/10 (30 March 2019)

Makes nearly 3 hours feel like 5 minutes, a masterclass in pacing and telling a compelling story. The film doesn't take itself too seriously. It would've been way easier to make a by the books serious historical drama. The film decides to make everything a farce and challenge your preconceived notions of what truly makes a great composer and ultimately what makes good music. Amadeus himself is a ticking time-bomb.
Constantly making a joke out of a lot of the situations he gets into. The one thing that keeps him so interesting is his willingness to go against norms of the time. Wolfgang made the music he connected with and you can see that when he conducts. It explodes off the screen. His music absolutely kicks tons of ass. Even if the people in Mozart's day didn't think the same. Salieri is the perfect antithesis. People loved his music at the time but unlike Mozart, his music has been pushed to the side. He still has an appreciation of Mozart's music but he doesn't like the implications and the behaviour of the man that comes with it.
By the last 30 minutes, the two come together and it is one of the best and most beautiful scenes I have ever seen. Perfectly captures the magic of composing and loving music. The amount of humanity that is shown between these two is the emotional heart of the film and feels like the perfect climax.
Amadeus doesn't hold back, it's exciting and bombastic but it never forgets the humanity behind its characters, and I think that's what makes it truly special.