Amadeus (1984) - 97/100

Rating: 9/10 (10 January 2012)

If there's one thing about Amadeus that I'm glad for, it is the fact that this does not look like it was made in the eighties. And thank God, because if it was anything like that, I don't think this movie could work.
You would think a movie about Mozart—you would think its greatest asset were the man who played Mozart, but no. Yes, okay, Tom Hulce puts in one of the most memorable performances in cinematic history, no doubt. After having watched this movie, can anybody ever really think Mozart and not hear that laugh ringing in your head?
True, this flick takes a huge dramatic license as every possibility presents itself (For one thing, Joseph II was not the brainless oaf that the movie makes him out to be—Sorry, had to say it.), but even then, were it not for the degree of which that dramatic license takes, we would not have the even more memorable character of Antonio Salieri, a part for which F. Murray Abraham received his jinxed Oscar. Granted, he hasn't made anything of note in the past I don't know eleven years? But let's take a quick look at his resumé: here you shall find Amadeus, m'kay; (2) Scarface, m'kay, a bit overrated and whatnot but still an excellent, albeit brief, performance by F.M.A.; and (3) Finding Forrester, wherein you will, if you ask me, find F.M.A.'s best work yet. Still, it is the fake Salieri plot-line that really makes Amadeus tick.
I have never in my life seen anybody on-screen so goddamn nefariously vindictive, and yet so sympathetic at the same time? I don't think so! Or at least I can't think of one right now. Trust me, without Abraham, you have no movie!
—Zauber Zerão die zauberkatze