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Mood:
- WittyCaptivatingHumorousStylized
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Plot:
- Mentally UnstableMusician's LifeProdigyBlind AmbitionDesire for FameUninhibited RivalryAmbitionArtists and Showbiz more...
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Genres:
- DramaMusicPeriodIndependent
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Time/Period:
- 18th Century
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Place:
- AustriaRoyal Court
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Praise:
- Award WinnerCritically AcclaimedOscar WinnerModern ClassicPrestigious Awards
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Based on:
- Based on PlayBiographyBased on True Story
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Attitudes:
- Semi SeriousRealistic
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Score:
- Classical
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Amadeus, 1984
English, Italian, German
USA
Profile of Amadeus
Amadeus can be described as witty, captivating, and stylized. The plot revolves around blind ambition, a prodigy, and the desire for fame. The main genres are drama, independent, and period. In approach, Amadeus is realistic. It is set, at least in part, at a royal court. It is located in Austria. Amadeus takes place in the 18th century. The soundtrack is classical. It is adapted from a play, drawn from a biography, and originally a true story. Amadeus has received attention for being a modern classic, an Oscar winner, and critically acclaimed.
Summary of Amadeus
In a lavish 18th Century parlor in Austria, an elderly man is found, by his servant, with his throat slashed. The wound is self-inflicted, and the man is the little-known composer Salieri (F. Murray Abraham), contemporary and adversary of the now-famed, but once reviled, composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (Tom Hulce). Later, from his cell in an insane asylum, Salieri tells a priest (Herman Meckler) the story of his association with Mozart, confessing that he actually killed the brilliantly gifted but troubled young man. Based on the award-winning play by Peter Shaffer, Milos Forman's riveting, brilliant, Oscar-winning Amadeus is a fictionalized account of the real-life mysterious death of Mozart. Abraham, in the role that won him the Best Actor Oscar, is the celebrated court composer to Joseph II (Jeffrey Jones)--his confidence and religious dedication shaken when he meets the boorish 26-year-old Mozart as he chases his future wife (Elizabeth Berridge) around a party while making obscene remarks. Furious that this clownish boy can produce such beautiful music, Salieri determines to keep Mozart's talent from lasting recognition and sets himself on a course for Mozart's destruction that leads to his own as well. Mozart continues to mount beautiful, moving operas (incredibly staged in the film), but becomes obsessed with writing a Requiem as his friends, family, health, and resources waste away, Salieri's manipulating presence always there. It is hard to imagine anyone--whether they are knowledgeable about classical music or not--who would not be held captive by this superb feast for the eyes and ears, a film whose excellence can be felt in every detail.
Details
| Language: | English, Italian, German |
| Country: | USA |
| Release date: | 19 September 1984 |
| Runtime: | 160 min |
| Awards: | Academy Awards |
Awards
Cast and Crew
as Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
as Antonio Salieri
Photos
Clips
Critics Reviews
Variety
Loaded with pleasures, the greatest of which derive from the on location filming in Prague, the most 18th century of all European cities.
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- by: Staff (Not Credited)
The Onion (A.V. Club)
The superbly edited original version of Amadeus used overlapping sound cues for a lively flow between scenes, and the new version breaks up some of that flow with lengthy, talky interludes. Still, Ondrícek's breathtaking images and Forman's...
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- by: Tasha Robinson
Users Reviews
Approached as a character drama and not as a biography, Milos Forman's award-winning Amadeus is a pure joy. Impeccable performances and a powerful, universal story centered on a life of private hell in the shadow of greatness. I've seen very few...
- 11.April.2010
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- by: Mike
- Mike rated this movie
0/10
Amadeus is little more than a character study/dark comedy disguised as a period piece, and it works. Amadeus is a searing film that has lost none of its power, the acting by Abraham and Hulce is just a great as it was in the eighties, and the...
- 24.June.2009
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- by: ZGDK
- ZGDK rated this movie
10/10Must See
