Amadeus

`Amadeus' was one of the most refreshing spectacles I have had the pleasure of witnessing in quite some time. I was personally blown away with what I was presented with and have thus concluded `Amadeus' to be one of the best motion pictures in the history of motion pictures. If you have not had the privilege of witnessing this powerful film then please, stop everything you are doing and track this movie down, order it straight from this webpage if you need to, but please watch this movie immediately. I don't think I've been this passionate about a single film since I saw `The Godfather' for the first time. Truly all the praise and admiration that has been associated with this masterclass of a film is well warranted. `Amadeus' is astounding from start to finish, a truly mesmerizing and utterly flawless production. Milos Forman is God; seriously. As the film opens we meet Antonio Salieri, a man gone crazy. He is living in an asylum and claims to have murdered Mozart. In the opening scenes of the film Salieri is met by a priest who wants to hear his story and so Salieri proceeds to tell him how it was that he came to meet, grow to despise and eventually kill Mozart. Antonio Salieri was an aspiring composer who has reached a certain level of fame as court composer to Emperor Joseph II but he has achieved nothing in comparison to the fame and recognition as the esteemed Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Salieri himself feels that Mozart's music is divine, something sent from God above (kind of the way I feel about this movie) but when he has the chance to finally meet this messenger of God he is let down. Mozart is not the noble gentlemen he had expected but instead is a pompous arrogant vile thing that sends shivers down Salieri's spine. How could God use this disgusting man in such a beautiful and miraculous way? It becomes apparent that the Emperor is smitten with Mozart's talent though and this bothers Salieri, not to mention others close to the Emperor. Salieri then decides that he is to make it his life goal to destroy Mozart, to strip him of his power and social standing and ruin him, yes, kill him. He concocts a plan all his own to accomplish this and sets it all in motion, waiting for the time to be right to strike and make his dreams come true. `Amadeus', as I mentioned earlier, is perfect. I seriously cannot find a single flaw. The script is deliciously absorbing and never loses the interest of its audience. The direction is nothing short of phenomenal and the acting across the board is superb. The two leads are brilliant. F. Murray Abraham, who won the Oscar for his performance, captures the very dire frustration and conflicting emotions that drives Salieri to madness and Tom Hulce (who should have won the Oscar in my humble opinion) dominates as Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, completely fleshing out his talent as well as the demons that choked out the flame that was his life. Elizabeth Berridge was sorely robbed of an Oscar nomination. Her portrayal of Mozart's doting wife Constanze is brilliantly crafted and expertly executed. The only word I can use to describe this film is ecstasy; pure, unbridled ecstasy. Since seeing this film I've thought of nothing else and have a feeling that I will think of nothing else for quite a while still to come. Please, I beg of you, experience this film for yourself. You will not regret it. Consider me entertained.

This movie is, to quote Jack Mathews' USA Today write-up, "about as close to perfection as movies get." I say that about the original theatre release. While I enjoyed the special features and the digitally restored and remastered picture and sound of the Director's Cut, I think that there were good reasons why Milos Forman and crew deleted the "20 minutes of never-before-seen footage." The pacing drags, but even more distressing, we see Herr Mozart reduced to giving "canine concerts" and submitting to other forms of degradation. In the original release, Mozart rarely raises his voice against Constanze; in this version, he's quite irritable. The Director's Cut does explain why Constanze later in the movie openly dislikes and distrusts Salieri. In the original release, I had accounted for her otherwise inexplicable change in attitute as woman's instinct. The Director's Cut does allow for greater character development of Salieri. For example, he struggles more with his belief system before turning his back on it. Salieri's jealousy prompts him to go out of his way to sabotage Mozart financially, spreading slander so Mozart will be unable to attract pupils. And we see that Salieri has quite the sweet tooth as he's munching on some delicacy in most scenes. (Elizabeth Berridge comments that she almost got sick when she had to eat "the nipples of Venus" (marzipan) during several takes of the scene where she solicits Salieri's help to secure Mozart an important teaching position.) The reason I'm still giving the Director's Cut 5 stars is because I love this movie and am glad that we fans have an alternate (though less "perfect") version of this cinematic masterpiece. The cast interviews (20 or so years after making the movie) were a pleasure to watch, and we're given lots of inside information. For example, Tom Hulce and F. Murray Abraham contrived an off-screen animosity to keep up the spirit of their characters during filming. Elizabeth Berridge laughs about the reason why she was chosen over the other final contender for Constanze: she was "less attractive," and therefore, more believable as the "street kid" the movie depicts Stanze to be. (Historically, Constanze was quite the mezzo soprano; this film makes no reference to Stanze's singing nor to the fact that Mozart more than once composed with his wife in mind.) During the crew interviews, Milos Forman remarks that Mozart's music became the third main character, an entity onto itself. Milos and Peter Shaffer speak about being humbled by this third character and how they were both overwhelmed by the music's beauty. Even if this movie betrays several glitches in historical accuracy, it is both moving and entertaining. I first saw this movie when I was about 11 and at the time, had rarely (if ever) heard Mozart's music (now I'm a full-blown fan). This movie exposed a generation to this great music and the man-behind-the-music (given the concession that Peter Shaffer distorted the maestro's personality for dramatic purposes). I remember the MTV video "Amadeus, Amadeus," and think it's cool that pop culture paid tribute to Wolfgang with a catchy tune (how apropros :-). I do recommend the Director's Cut, but please keep the original release in your collection!

Have relished my lowly 'flipper disc' dvd -from 1997- of the Oscar-winning theatrical cut (5 stars easy) for many years now, waiting . . . waiting for its proper blu ray release. In 2009, FINALLY . . . but wait, they instead released a director's cut . . . with 20 min. of added superfluous scenes, and it now (2009) being rated R due to female nudity. Still waiting for a theatrical blu. . . now it's 2025 and FINALLY we get . . . a 4K version ONLY . . . NO BLU RELEASE. I feel betrayed by Warner Brothers, a studio that I had prior held in high regard, for their obvious contempt for that (my) demographic who haven't felt the need to upgrade ($$) their systems for this latest trend. Unbelievable. Oh well, I just purchased a lovely used digibook elsewhere, with the DC, a companion music CD (60 min.), and will therein enclose my old faithful flipper dvd (again, of the version that won all those Oscars so many years ago). A lovely, terrific film, in its original splendor. WB, please PLEASE release it to blu: you'll make scads of money from folk who've waited a long time for this, who don't have nor need 4K systems. Thank you.

Excellent. Great condition and a fantastic movie.. specially if you love music of any kind. It’s Worth watching.

Powerful film, great story, compellingly staged and acted.

Great Movie on Mozart

bon OK , facile de se faire noter avec ce ce film ! quoi vous dire de pas commun , livraison rapide , magnifique film , deja vue a la télé , mais la je le regarde et reregarde , une grande interprètation des comédiens un régale , Merci Monsieur , avec un prix défiant toute concurence , juste pour Noêl . Ne seriez vous un peu le père Noël .......

非常に面白かった。クラシック好きなら見ておくべき作品。SEX AND THE CITY のミランダも出演してます。

素晴らしい作品です。以前16,000円以上したVHSを持っていました。デッキが壊れて再生できなくなりこちらを購入。 初めて見た時の感動画よみがえります。