Amadeus (1984) * * * *

Directed by:  Milos Forman

Starring:  F. Murray Abraham, Tom Hulce, Elizabeth Berridge, Jeffrey Jones, Roy Dotrice, Cynthia Nixon

Producer Saul Zaentz and director Milos Forman probably had to fight every day with studio executives to achieve their vision of Amadeus.    There are fine actors in it, but no "movie stars".    The film is set in the world of 18th-century classical music.    The leading roles are all performed by Americans and they recite the lines with their American accents.    Forman decided this because he felt British or other accents would be too distracting.     Forman and Zaentz, who collaborated on One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975), risked their stellar reputations to make the movie they wanted.     They succeeded brilliantly.    Amadeus was a box-office success and won eight Academy Awards including Best Picture.

Amadeus is never ponderous as it tells a story of universal human nature that most can understand.     Few can truly relate to being a genius like Mozart was, but many can relate to the envious Salieri (Abraham), who can only stand by and gnash his teeth as Mozart writes masterpieces with such ease it is "as if he is taking dictation from God".     I can write the name Mozart and pretty much everyone knows who I am referring to.    Antonio Salieri was an actual composer who enjoyed considerable success, but is now an obscure figure in classical music history.     He was famous for a while.    Salieri describes himself as "the most famous composer in Europe" at one time, but he knows his works would never stand the test of time like Mozart's.     He was correct.    They didn't.    He can not live with that.

F. Murray Abraham won a Best Actor Oscar for this film.    Before this role of a lifetime, he was a theater actor who played strong supporting roles in Scarface and The Big Fix (1978).     Because he is not a handsome leading man type, he is likely not as familiar to audiences anymore.    In a way, he is a modern day version of Salieri.     His career is distinguished, but he never achieved the immortality of a Pacino, DeNiro, DiCaprio, or a Tom Hanks.     A different actor would have been all wrong.    I am sure many A-listers wanted to take part in this project, but credit Forman and Zaentz for staying true to their vision.    

Salieri tells his story as an older man who attempted suicide while staying in an insane asylum.    He has a captive audience in a young, idealistic priest who assures Salieri, "All men are equal in God's eyes,"   Salieri retorts with the voice of experience: "Are they?"    He then brings up the name Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in equal parts reverence and disdain.     His tale will test the priest's faith in his own assertions with a story of how envy poisoned Salieri enough to plot Mozart's death and steal his last work from him to claim as his own.    

Salieri is a music lover who knows down deep that his own work is amateurish compared to Mozart's.    Mozart wrote operas at age 6 and performed for royalty all over Europe as a child under the watchful eye of his domineering father Leopold (Dotrice).     The adult Mozart is a conceited, immature man who thumbs his nose at authority and dares to question their decisions to ban his operas.     However, we like the young man anyway because of his goofy nature, loud giggle, and his multi-colored wigs.     He would have been right at home as a rock musician or a punk rocker.     It is little wonder the stiff, mannered Salieri can not stand him.     But, oh, does he love his music.

Mozart is married to a buxom woman named Constanze (Berridge), who partly enables his partying lifestyle and excessive drinking, while also watching out for the family finances and defending her beloved "Wolfie" from outsiders.     She also knows when enough is enough and leaves Mozart for a time.     This allows Salieri to anonymously hire a maid for the Mozart home who will spy on him and inform Salieri of what masterpiece he is writing next.     Why does Salieri torment himself?    Is he somehow punishing himself for not having Mozart's ability or genius?     He does not seem to grasp that very, very few people have that sort of ability in any profession.     This news is of no comfort to him.     His mission is to punish God for making him so mediocre by taking away his perfect musical creator.  

Amadeus makes all of the right choices in portraying Mozart not as a tortured genius, but as a likable goofball who only wants to be free to express himself and party.     The story is never weighed down with too much significance or piety.    It is a study of rivalry taken to the extreme, even if the rivalry is in Salieri's mind and heart alone.     It has great music, a fun spirit (even as Salieri's scheme begins to unfold), and is easily relatable to audiences.     Those who shun it because it takes place in 18th century Vienna or because of the music is doing themselves a grave disservice.    Amadeus is entertaining throughout.   

Peter Shaffer wrote the Broadway play on which this movie is based and also adapted the screenplay.    It is to be noted that the real Antonio Salieri did not conspire to kill Mozart or steal his music from his deathbed.    Shaffer's aim was to have people understand the difference between immortal genius and flashes in the pan.     At some point, Salieri may have been richer or even more noteworthy than Mozart.     But, I confess I am not familiar with any of his work.     Mozart's work has stood the test of time.     A Little Night Music is famous over 200 years after it was written.     Fame's shelf life is finite.    Genius is forever.   Salieri would agree.