‎Amadeus (1984) directed by Miloš Forman • Reviews, film + cast • Letterboxd

Amadeus

1984 Directed by Miloš Forman

...Everything you've heard is true

The incredible story of genius musician Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, told in flashback by his peer and secret rival, Antonio Salieri—now confined to an insane asylum.

F. Murray Abraham Tom Hulce Elizabeth Berridge Roy Dotrice Simon Callow Christine Ebersole Jeffrey Jones Barbara Bryne Cynthia Nixon Douglas Seale Charles Kay Kenny Baker Martin Cavina Roderick Cook Milan Demjanenko Peter DiGesu Patrick Hines Nicholas Kepros Philip Lenkowsky Lisbeth Bartlett Richard Frank Herman Meckler Jonathan Moore Brian Pettifer Vincent Schiavelli John Strauss Karl-Heinz Teuber Miro Grisa Karel Gult Show All…

160 mins More details at IMDb TMDb Report this film

Popular reviews

Review by Amadeus ★★★★★ 13

Perfection.

I don't understand why this movie isn't higher rated. What criticism could possibly be raised about this flawless masterpiece?

Too many notes?
Review by Dirk van Eck ★★★★★ 12

This film. This film right here. A masterpiece in every sense of the word. F. Murray Abraham as Antonio Salieri and the relatively unknown Tom Hulce as the titular Amadeus who needs no further introduction put down two of the best performances in movie history, and although they do not even share as much screen time together as you would expect from a story about (one-sided) rivalry, their chemistry is just beyond belief. Salieri’s villainous quest to destroy that what he believes is God himself taunting him is made completely and utterly empathetic through his simultaneous admiration for the gift of music created by that very malefactor. And then Mozart, who believes his opponent to be nothing short of a…
Review by Wesley R. Ball ★★★★★ 7

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, arguably the single greatest mind in music history, never really had a rise to greatness so much as an immersion in it from the start. A born prodigy, at age 4 he already started composing music and delighted dozens with his immense talent. Achieving notoriety among the elite in the musical industry proved to be an uphill battle for him, yet history has been far more gracious to him than to the other supposed masters of the art. Mozart kept an uncanny ability at achieving perfection while the more publicly renowned, whether out of political or personal motivation, seemed to harbor an intense yet silent hatred for him.

At least, that's what Peter Shaffer's play Amadeus has…
Review by Jessie ★★★★½ 1

This review may contain spoilers. I can handle the truth.

Firstly, you will never find a movie with more beautiful, breathtaking music. Simply stunning. Even for non classical fans, it is captivating.

Despite its title, it is the story of Salieri, the composer who reveres and yet hates Mozart for his genius. He lives his life in the shadow of Mozarts superior talent, and is driven mad by it. He can't fathom why God blessed Mozart with superior talent, a man who is in no way as pious as himself, and it becomes his obsession. Even years after Mozarts death he is still enraptured with all that occurred, and consigns himself to his fate of being the self proclaimed "patron saint of mediocrity."

Three hours long, and worth every minute of it. Whether or not you love classical music, you can appreciate the (fictionalized) story of this real life genius. One of the best composers of all time, and a great movie about him.
Review by Dan ★★★★★

Mozart was good but he's no Ryan Gosling in La La Land
Review by Esteban Gonzalez ★★★★★ 6

“This was no composition by a performing monkey! This was a music I'd never heard. Filled with such longing, such unfulfillable longing, it had me trembling. It seemed to me that I was hearing the voice of God.”

As I sat there breathless staring at my screen watching this astounding masterpiece while listening to its amazing soundtrack, I couldn’t help but relate to F. Murray Abraham’s Salieri in his admiration for Mozart and his genius, although my admiration was geared towards Milos Forman’s outstanding direction and not on the actual composer himself. What a unique experience this three hour film was for me. Amadeus was a movie I had been putting off mainly because of its extremely long running time…

Recent reviews

Review by Daigoro Pagano ★★★★★

Salieri.
The best cinematic villan ever. Period.

"And do you know what happened? A miracle!"
Review by Erik Wells ★★★★★

a strong case could be made for F. Murray Abraham's performance here being the best performance anyone has ever given ever in any film
Review by Aidan Mulshine ★★★★

Mozart and Salieri are one of the best rivalries in cinema.
Review by AnnabelleLC ★★★★★

I love this film.
It makes me excited and dead inside and excited again and finally, realize that I’m very poorly talented. Fuck Mozart. Just kidding, smack.
Ps. That smile and that freaking laugh. Damm.
Review by Jacob Peterson ★★★★½

Sadly much of this criticism surrounding this film is a misunderstanding that this clearly a work of historical fiction and NOT a historical re-telling. So was Mozart as ridiculously farcical as he is portrayed in this film? While he had a penchant for scat humor, partying and irresponsibly handling money this ludicrous caricature may have been too heavy-handed though again it's historical FICTION. In grappling with those two ideas you can begin to appreciate everything else about this story from the perfectly done aesthetics to the performances of its stellar cast (especially F. Murray Abraham, Jeffrey Jones and Tom Hulce) and most importantly, its densely intricate, yet always engaging story from book end to book end. Overall, stories set in periods like this can be a snooze, however the talent they had on all fronts to weave this compelling piece of HISTORICAL FICTION makes this one of the finest classical music films out there to date.
Review by Luke87 ★★★

Amadeus is biopic of sorts that charts Mozart’s time as a composer in the court of Franz Joseph II. The story is recounted by rival court composer, Salieri. I found parts of this film a little boring and feel Forman could’ve shaved the run time. Another gripe I have is seeing/hearing English spoken in a period piece set in Vienna - I find it hard to immerse myself in the film. The set designs and costumes were all stellar and the scenes of Mozart’s musical genius at play were entertaining (I loved watching him compose, particularly his Requiem whilst on his deathbed).
Review by Maverick Glaum ★★★★

This is a review of the DIRECTOR’S CUT since it’s the only cut I could find.

Amadeus is an elegant, beautiful looking piece of film with amazing performances and an elaborate score. The story is captivating with many characters that are all interesting in their own right. Shoutout to the Art Director and the costume department because dressing all those extras I’m sure was not easy.

My only issue is that it runs too long but I can’t help that I watched the director’s cut (the cut is 20 minutes longer). If this was the theatrical I could see maybe giving this a higher score. That being said the director’s cut is still really good and if you prepare for the long journey, I think you’ll be satisfied with the end result.
Review by Alan Nair ★★

Going against the grain here...
This movie could have been a great movie indeed, if a few things were different about it.
Overall, this movie had everything right. An interesting premise, gorgeous sets, and overall good storytelling.
But then my experience was fucked up by several issues:

The most important character in the movie is Mozart. He takes up more screen time and plot space than the protagonist. However, the actor who plays Mozart is just irritating to watch. The characterization itself is not so bad, but the interaction between him and the other characters is acted so badly. It often appears contradictory and inconsistent.

Women. Now, don't get me wrong, but those times were patriarchal right? Then how can…
Review by Johnathan ★★★★★

Salieri is a whole mood. A life’s mood.