Amadeus DVD

Amadeus DVD > Reviews > Very good but overlong

Production Year: 1984 - Drama - Director: Milos Forman - Original Language: English - Classification: Parental Guidance more

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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...
more...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. In a lavish 18th Century parlour 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 (writer of SLEUTH and THE WICKER MAN), director 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.





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Very good but overlong
A review by JSpencer on Amadeus DVD
July 20th, 2000


Author's product rating:   Amadeus DVD - rated by JSpencer

Did you enjoy it? Liked it 
Story Satisfactory 
Characters / Performances Good 
Special Effects Standard 
How does it compare to similar films? Good 

Advantages: A lot of great moments, great music of course .
Disadvantages: Lacks a dramatic thread and thus feels overlong .

Recommend to potential buyers: yes 

Full review
Milos Forman's version of Peter Schaffer's play is beautiful to the eyes and ears but I found somehow lacked a dramatic thread to keep you hooked. It's more about excerpts from the relationship between Salieri, the court composer, and his young and, much to Salieri's annoyance, wonderfully talented student, Mozart and takes us up to his early death and paupers burial. It makes up for this lack of drama through it's performances, most notably from F. Murray Abraham as Salieri and Jeffrey Jones as the emperor Joseph II and also the original slant on Mozart's character, Tom Hulce playing him as an irritating and mischevious upstart. More a film of tasty morsels than a satisfying meal. It won a lot of Oscars though.
 
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Soundtrack Outstanding 
How does it compare to others by the same director? Good 
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Amadeus [1985] Amadeus [1985]
The satirical sensibilities of writer Peter Shaffer and director Milos Forman (One Flew ... more
over the Cuckoo's Nest) were ideally matched in
this Oscar-winning movie adaptation of Shaffer's
hit play about the rivalry between two composers
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Amadeus [1985] Amadeus [1985]
The satirical sensibilities of writer Peter Shaffer and director Milos Forman (One Flew ... more
over the Cuckoo's Nest) were ideally matched in
this Oscar-winning movie adaptation of Shaffer's
hit play about the rivalry between two composers
in the court of Au...
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