Mo-rrison-zart

Rating: 10/10 (14 June 2004)

A fictional story revolving around the life and times of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (Tom Hulce), "Amadeus" is a tremendous achievement in film. The story is one of revenge fueled by the jealousy and overshadowing of another composer, Court Composer Salieri (F. Murray Abraham). Mozart's work was considered the work and voice of God himself, and many including Salieri could not understand why God would give such amazing talent to such an undeserving man. Crude, vulgar, immature, and irresponsible, Mozart was all of these things...but he was also the source of music that had no equal and talent beyond all comprehension. Court Composer Salieri felt that he could not let God get away with such hypocrisy and made it his sole purpose in life to ruin and destroy the man who mocked him and highlighted his mediocrity. Through true genius and talent from many involved, "Amadeus" is simply, a flawless masterpiece in every aspect.
Entirely deserving of it's eight Academy Awards, it seems I'm not the only one who feels this way about this film. I consider it to be perfect, but the most impressive aspect of it to me is F. Murray Abraham's performance as the vengeful and envious Salieri. Through his performance and narration, one is swept away in the emotions his character feels to the point of understanding his hatred and intentions. Possibly a little out of his mind, you can empathize with his character as his feelings hurl him towards madness and violence. His performance as an old man is incredible and entirely believable right down to every mannerism. It's amazing. This is no doubt complimented by the excellent make up work done for this part of his character, which was also awarded an Oscar. Tom Hulce was perfectly cast as Mozart, the wild and unparalleled composer. Had his performance not been equally impressive, Abraham's performance may have not been as incredible as it wouldn't have been as easy to empathize and identify with. The supporting cast is also not to go unnoticed. An overall superb casting job.
Director Milos Forman achieves greatness through making a movie about music and opera, and representing his film in just such a way. Even when no performance is being given, the music in the background sets the mood for what we see on screen in an operatic way making it twice as meaningful. It is also beautifully shot, and using all natural light and no artificial lighting, we are treated to an immersing experience that makes one forget it's just a film and these are just actors. Few do this correctly, but when it is...it's truly magnificent and makes the film. The costumes even further add to this atmosphere of realism.
There really isn't much else to say about it, it's simply one of the best films I have seen, complimented by an excellent story set in a very romantic time period in history about one of the most famous people in history. If you have not yet seen it, you must.
"mm-hmmm"