Amadeus (1984)

“This is Mozart as an eighteenth-century Bruce Springsteen, and yet (here is the genius of the movie) there is nothing cheap or unworthy about the approach…the film is a visual feast of palaces, costumes, wigs, feasts, opening nights, champagne, and mountains of debt.” — Roger Ebert

SYNOPSIS

Miloš Forman (One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest) brings dazzling theatricality and irreverent humor to this lavish, Oscar-winning historical drama about artistic genius, jealousy, and the mysteries of divine inspiration. Adapted from Peter Shaffer’s acclaimed stage play, this sumptuous production recounts the life of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (Tom Hulce) through the embittered recollections of Antonio Salieri (F. Murray Abraham), a respected court composer whose admiration for Mozart’s extraordinary gifts curdles into obsessive resentment. Convinced that God has bestowed musical genius upon an immature, vulgar upstart, Salieri embarks on a campaign to destroy his rival, with devastating consequences. Against the magnificent backdrop of 18th-century Vienna, Forman combines exquisite period detail, biting comedy, and psychological intrigue with some of the most sublime music ever composed. Winner of eight Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Actor for Abraham, this exhilarating meditation on talent, mediocrity, and the destructive power of envy is a grand celebration of music and the creative imagination.