AMADEUS

I long considered the wisdom of adding 80’s and 90’s films to my reviews. Not because I find them “outdated” or something, quite on the contrary, I love them. The trouble is you, my beloved readers, might find them outdated. And there is more of a chance you’ve watched them of course. But when my memory (or indeed my good self) stumbles across an old favorite (Beetlejuice, Hook and the like) I cannot resist. This is one such time. I have to share. I have to gush. And I am almost gushing tears as I write this review – this is the first film – first grown-up film I liked. It got me interested in movies. It’s “the one”. It won 8 Oscars ® and was nominated for a further 3. It walked off with BAFTA’s, Golden Globes, César Awards and David Di Donatello Awards – impressive but I don’t really give a damn because it was my favorite movie of all times before I was old enough to comprehend all that… “It” is Milos Forman’s AMADEUS.

Amadeus is, as the name suggests, the life story of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, told by his rival composer Antonio Salieri, now (in the film) residing in a mental institute. I will not give a detailed account of Mozart’s life (and if you do not know it you will find out in the film he he ). But I will tell you the film focuses on the rivalry between Mozart and Salieri, an Italian born composer settled in Vienna. It actually was not very much of a rivalry; Salieri was a good composer of his day but not on a par with the genius of Mozart… Historical accounts as to the actual relationship between the two men differ – some accounts claim Salieri did indeed do everything in his power to put obstacles in Mozart’s way, others claim that the men were in fact colleagues and had an amicable relationship. This film explores the theory that Salieri envied Mozart’s genius bitterly while respecting and admiring at the same time. And it shows us how far this envy may have led him…

The film contains, in truth, everything a good film should. The acting is brilliant, although the two lead actors – F. Murray Abraham who won an Oscar ® as Salieri and Tom Hulce who was nominated – seem not have worked on anything I’ve seen after that ("that" is 1984 incidentally). The direction, well, is by Milos Forman. The soundtrack is largely composed of Mozart’s arias that are beautifully rendered. And of course, there is Mozart. His life and tales are well worth watching in themselves – to say he was “quite a character” would be an incredibly British understatement. Ok, it is 160 min long but honestly in my view you actually CANNOT have too much of this one.

And to those of you who were curious – yes, I did LOVE the Opera as quite a small child. And murder mysteries (oops…). What can I say? I was a very strange kid…