The best movie of 1984. Among the best films of the 80s. Among the best films of all-time.

Rating: 10/10 (30 September 2008)

While 1984 box-office-wise was dominated by Beverly Hills Cop and Ghostbusters, there is one film that rises above them all in terms of quality by miles upon miles. Amadeus is an excellent and superbly-crafted film that is most likely the greatest stage-to-film translation in the history of film-making. Combining exotic and fascinating sets with great cinematography, flawless acting, grand writing, great directing, and a well-picked soundtrack to blend it all together, Amadeus is a visual treat full of deep themes that will move and question your soul. The effort involved is most likely the reason why mainstream audiences believed that everything that happened in the film actually happened, when in fact it's based off of a popular play. In this tale about religion, greed, envy, music, passion, and love, there is an overwhelming amount of material presented in its above-average running time. Calling this the best movie of 1984 and one of the better movies of the 1980s isn't a stretch at all.
Amadeus starts off with an elderly and bitter Antonio Salieri reaching a low point in his depression by attempting to kill himself. He then confesses to a priest his story about his life involving Mozart, and the film enters a flashback mode that jumps between the past and present; the present in the movie is merely Salieri evaluating the events that were going on. The majority of Amadeus is about Salieri as he struggles to find peace with himself and God after witnessing a childish vulgar man deliver some of the best, daring, experimental, and unbelievable music the world had ever laid its ears onmusic that is much better than anything Salieri could produce. Salieri's jealousy and rage gets the better of him as his quest for vengeance and victory spirals out of control at the same time as Mozart's un-expecting depressing spiral. The movie focuses on many themes, with God and religion being the dominant theme.
The strongest quality Amadeus possesses is the excellent directing and writing. The writer and creator of the play was involved with the screenplay, and overall its Oscar-worthy material. Stripping the themes and major ideas from the play and turning it into a film-like medium, the movie itself is just as powerful as the stage version. Peter Shaffer's influences include several short stories about Mozart and many rumored tales that Salieri confessed to killing Mozart (which is heavily debated even today). Milos Foreman, known for directing "One Flew over the Cukoo's Nest," is at the top of his game here. We see many sweeping shots of the city streets, beautiful and massive sets for operas, performances, and musicals, and just so much more. It is one thing to have wonderful sets, but it takes a good director to know how to handle the 360 degrees of beauty surrounding the scene. Complimenting the directing is the editing, which apparently didn't win an Oscar. Try naming 10 scenes better-edited than the "Requiem" scene towards the end.
In a rare double-nomination moment in the Academy, both of the main characters were nominated for best acting, and both of them should have won (instead of just one of them). The acting in Amadeus is nearly flawless, from Tom Hulce as Mozart to F. Murray Abraham as Saliri, to even the smaller roles (See pre-Sex and the City Cynthia Nixon pull a good performance in a minor role). The cast excels the movie into rarely-reached heights, as the opera singers and dancers and performers enhance the authenticity of the period piece and the way the performances were done back in the 18th century/19th century. Even if you aren't a fan of the opera, you can't help but be startled by how long they can cling on to some of those notes.
Bottom Line: Stretching this review any longer would be an insult, because it shouldn't require this many words to describe why everyone should see this movie at least once. Amadeus is an excellent movie, no doubt about it. There's too much going for it for you to ever complain about the nitty-gritty details. The only setback is how much fiction is involved, even though some of Mozart's seemingly-exaggerated accomplishments are indeed true (Yes he did write professional music at age 4, yes he used to be able to memorize an entire piece of music after just one listen, and yes he wrote operas at age 7). But forgetting the loose mesh of fact and fiction and you'll find a rich movie full of wonderful music, beautiful scenery, and memorable scenes. Recommend to the highest degree, especially if you are a fan of classical music, or better yet a fan of good movies. Amadeus: One of the shining gems of the 1980s.
P.S. Someone come up with a great Beethoven movie, please, he deserves it.