Between the love and hate of God

Rating: 10/10 (22 November 2012)

When it was suggested to Milos Forman to make a film about Mozart, one of the most famous classical composers, he was, well, reluctant. A period biopic with wigs and music of the 18th century didn't seem to be the right choice for him nor for a larger audience. Only when he saw Peter Shaffer's play, a highly fictionalized account of the rivalry of Mozart and the Viennese court composer Antonio Salieri, he immediately understood its potential - and turned it into a masterpiece. Strangely enough, the period biopic with wigs and decades old music became a box office hit as well...
The reasons why "Amadeus" succeeds, simply put: Shaffer knows how to write a dramatic story and Forman how to film it. The inaccuracies are easily forgiven and we soon accept Mozart as the ingenious but always broke goofball and Salieri as the scheming man in the background, driven by his simmering jealousy. Both of the leads, F. Murray Abraham as Salieri and Tom Hulce as Mozart, portray their characters with dedication, passion and unrelenting fervor when the script demands it - after "Amadeus" they will always be remembered for those two roles. But a perfect production is more than the cast: Mozart's music of course stars prominently in the picture, placed in highly effective conjunction with cinematographic delicacies Forman serves one after the other sculpting Mozart's fragmented life into a magical whole. While plentifully used the composer's pieces are never repeated thematically, so that the viewer really gets a glimpse into the complete array of the genius' mind, into the playfulness, the love for his craft, the commitment he exudes, all assets on which his secret opponent eventually will break. "Amadeus" might be a biopic paired with wild speculation, but it is highly dramatic yet entertaining, elevating and tragic. And high art - cinematographically, story-wise and musically divine.