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…

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…

“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…

"Mozart bursts into a wild giggle." ~Peter Shaffer (and Tom Hulce)

Simply one of the greatest adaptations ever made from the stage to the screen, Amadeus remains a glorious piece of cinema even in the form of its problematic Director's Cut edition, which is the version I've just watched after many years of my previous enjoyment of the original theatrical footage released in 1984.

The Director's Cut does enhance and better elaborate on certain nuances of the story, but I don't think it necessarily makes for an improved or finer picture. It is a pretty different affair in some regards. My main issues about it concern, firstly and foremost, a now-missing scene which I believe to be essential to the…

Director's Cut

Another film I can scratch off my "List of Shame". I'd put off watching Amadeus for far too long, and I'm definitely glad I gave it my time. Amadeus is near perfect in its execution. It displays amazing production and costume design, as any film taking place in this period should; but Milos Foreman's direction brings those aspects to life on screen in an electrifying fashion, mostly with the help of Amadeus' two lead performances. F. Murray Abraham gets a lot of credit for his performance, and don't get me wrong he is phenomenal here, but no one talks enough about Tom Hulce as the man himself, Wolfgang Amadeus Motzart. It's a layered performance that goes all the…