Die Zauberflote - Mozart (Wide Screen)

Advantages: Bright, colourful, gripping story
Disadvantages: May seem dated, purely fictional story

...First came the play… "Amadeus took the theatre world by storm, winning a host of awards, and running for over 1000 performances on Broadway. And then came the film… And more surprisingly, it was great… not a second-rate rip-off, not an uninspired American money-making franchise. It adds to the 'Amadeus' phenomenon instead of watering it down, and I will tell you how… Mozart didn't die. He was re-born on film instead of stage, and his charm captures our hearts all over again. * * * * * It all started when 'Amadeus' writer Peter Shaffer was cornered by film director Milos Forman after the first preview of the play at the National Theatre, London, in November 1979. His enthusiasm, his insistence that 'Amadeus' was perfect for a film, meant that in 1982 their collaboration together began. They were not to create a hybrid, neither play nor... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful

Advantages: Period drama, the music, the acting, the direction
Disadvantages: Not a true rendition

...Amadeus – Director’s Cut Introduction The film Amadeus is based on Peter Schaffer’s stage play of the same name. The film was originally screened in 1984 and has been released on DVD. This updated version, Amadeus – Director’s Cut, was released in September 24th 2002 by Warner Home Videos certificate 18. This new version runs for 180 minutes in contrast to the original which ran for 160 minutes on DVD. The film is basically about the antagonism that existed between the two composers, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Antonio Salieri. The updated film reinstates sections originally cut from the film that help to clarify a number of crucial plot developments. The film is available to buy from £7.97. Synopsis The story starts in 1823, when Salieri, old and distrurbed, is admitted to an insane asylum after trying to commit suicide. He... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: 6*; 8 oscars; My ultimate favourite film. Staggeringly brilliant acting, production, direction and music.
Disadvantages: None

...confesses from a lunatic asylum that he had murdered Mozart. Salieri is presented as a musician of modest talent who has dedicated himself to God if he is granted the ability to write beautiful music. He feels that God has rejected him because the ‘beautiful music’ issues apparently effortlessly from 'that simpering fool' Mozart. I do not intend to enter into any of the controversies about how and why Mozart dies when he did or whether Salieri had anything to do with it. These arguments do not detract from the immense enjoyment of the film. The choice of actors is inspired. There are significant and uncanny facial resemblances between many of these chosen and contemporary portraits of their subjects. This is most noticeably so between Jeffrey Jones and Emperor Joseph II, Elizabeth Berridge and Constanze Mozart and Roy Dotrice and Leopold Mozart... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful