Amadeus

Rating:
Summary: I'm deeply impressed this movie amadeus. How about you~!?
Review: There's a moment early in Amadeus when court composer Antonio Salieri (F. Murray Abraham) wanders through a crowded salon in search of the famed prodigy known to him by reputation only: Mozart. Inspecting each young musician, he looks for some outward sign of genius: the "man who had written his first concerto at the age of four, his first symphony at seven, and a full-scale opera at 12."
Soon after, we and with Salieri first lay eyes on Mozart - not the halo-crowned demigod built up in music history classes, but instead a mischievous, arrogant vulgar puck with a cackling laugh. But Milos Forman's stunning epic did not win eight Academy Awards for simply reducing classical music royalty to child-like stature.
Instead of attempting to simply be a biographical sketch of a master, the story is told by an aged Salieri who - now committed to a sanitarium after a suicide attempt - confesses his desperate tale to a priest. From that first meeting, Salieri grows ever more jealous of the impish Mozart's gift, and increasingly angry with the God whom he feels has forsaken him after a lifetime of "servitude." Ultimately, he plots to get rid of his nemesis the old fashioned way - murder. It's a pathetic fable of mediocrity's envy of brilliance, and the cursed mission to overcome God's will. All this set against the striking backdrop of 18th-century Vienna - in all its filth and splendor, driven by the virtuosity of Mozart's compositions.
Amadeus is one of those magical and rare films with a nearly perfect mixture of beautiful writing, glorious music, elegant cinematography, remarkable acting, dazzling art direction, and an engrossing story. It ranges from grand to ribald, from hilarious to heartbreaking, from chilling to endearing. It put relative no-names like F. Murray Abraham in the spotlight, and furthered the already promising careers of greats like director Milos Forman. And it is by far one of my favorite films of all time.
The bad news about this new Director's Cut is that not too much has changed from the original, but the good news is that not too much has changed from the original. While the trailers boast 20 minutes of additional material, the deleted scenes are nothing to write home about, although they are sewn tidily into the original to make the film look virtually unchanged. Only one additional scene sheds new light on a slightly confusing moment from the original, explaining why later in the film Mozart's wife Constanze (Elizabeth Berridge) is coarse with Salieri when she finds him tending to Mozart on his deathbed. Otherwise, the new clips are simple distractions, generally reiterating points already well-defined the first time around or giving us a couple of new laughs.
The big improvement is truly in the remastering of the images and soundtrack, which will be especially noticeable for those who have never seen Amadeus on the big screen. On the other hand, the reissue's greatest drawback is its attention-span challenging three-plus hour length (188 minutes). But you don't have to be daunted. Great films like this one make a numb butt worth the bother.

Watching this movie, you learn love, hate and honor. One of my friend studies music in school. He always said his all time favoirte musician is Wolfgag Amadeus Mozart. Honistly I didn't know why but after watching this movie, I understand why his favoirte musiciain is Mozart. It was pretty long movie. Just make sure you go to the bathroom right before the trailers.

Rating:
Summary: "I can't rewrite what's perfect!"
Review: So says Mozart to Salieri in both the theatrical release and this special edition Director's Cut. I am reminded of the time I purchased a CD recording of Aaron Copland's full-length version of "Appalachian Spring." For curiosity's sake, it's fun to listen to, but with the hiccups (additional measures here and there) and entire dances omitted from the Suite, you realize that not only are you not missing anything important, you are actually sacrificing the fluidity of the abridged version. Sometimes, when they are compelled to, artists can outdo themselves by cutting here and there.

And as Salieri says to the priest in this movie, "Displace one note and there would be diminishment. Displace one phrase and the structure would fall." More than any other film I have seen, "Amadeus" comes closest to being an opera, or better yet, a symphony. This is that rarest of films, one that comes as close as humanly possible to technical and emotional perfection. The timing of each exchange, every scene, is impeccable.

Keep in mind the overwhelming jealousy of Salieri as he stands in the middle of his parlor sifting through "page after page" of Mozart's perfect first drafts. As Costanze picks up the fallen music from the floor and inquires, "So you will help us?", Salieri stands mute, livid, and hands her the portfolio as he steps on the music to walk out the door. Then, in his conversation with God, he says simply, "From now on we are enemies." The director's cut ruins this perfect- PERFECT- moment with the original added dialogue, and another scene entirely, before this line is stated. Each deleted scene, while interesting, is merely a hiccup or larger obstruction to the flow of the story as millions have experienced it for two decades. The theatrical release wasn't an instant classic for nothing. In fact, the longer it goes on, the more you realize that most of what was cut merely reinforces elements of characters, relationships, and developments that were handled with subtle nuance in the theatrical release. Do we really need another scene in the diva's dressing room after "The Abduction from the Seraglio" to hammer home what was already hinted at when Katerina Cavalieri threw her flowers at Mozart? Both Salieri and the audience knew "the Creature [Mozart] had had my [Salieri's] darling girl."

At the end of "Axur," Mozart tries to compliment Salieri by saying, "One hears such sounds... and what can one say, but... Salieri?" Indeed, one sees such scenes and what can one say, but... Director's Cut?

Rating:
Summary: Spellbinding
Review: I was lucky to experience "Amadeus" on the Big Screen yesterday. My local cinema kindly screened it as part of their special season, entitled "Monday's Classic Screening." Being an admirer of great cinema i was drawn to the chance of seeing such a famous movie for the first time. However, i had preconceived doubts about what i was going to see. I had a feeling i wouldn't enjoy the movie, that it would join my list of "overrated" films. Any doubts were completely erased from the outset.

It looked completely like a Milos Forman film from the start, textured photography and such emotionally-charged acting was evident in the very first scene. Salieri, an aging composer, recalls events from many years earlier when he met the legendary Mozart for the first time. Furious that this boor can produce such beautiful music, Salieri determines to keep Mozart's talent from continued recognition.

Forman rightly keeps the flashbacks back the asylum in which Salieri is furiously remembering(quite well), to a minimum. The audience is far more engaged in Mozart and Salieri in their prime, not the wrinkled and rather ghostly looking Salieri from the present. Salieri was incensed that God would bless so vulgar and obnoxious a young snipe as Mozart with divine genius. Why was Salieri'so disciplined, so devoted to his art, and so willing to toady to his superiors not touched by God? Unable to match Mozart's talent, Salieri uses his influence in court to sabotage the young upstart's career.

It's no exagerration to heap endless praise upon the two principle performances. The director is the guy who made "One flew over the cuckoo's nest" remember. Abraham(Salieri) won an Oscar for his role and had it not been for Hulce's(Mozart) American accent jarring the ear, he would have also won. I believe he should have won regardless of this minor carp, as his screen presence is electrifying. Hulce portrays a man equally un-self-conscious about his genius and his vulgarity with such skill and passion. His obscene giggle is hilarious and he manages to be approve his gliterring smile in the emotionally resonant scenes(his father's death for instance).

Much of everything else is charged with such energy and enthusiasm that there is never a dull moment in the 3 hour running time. The costume design adds flavour to the sensational moments of opera and piano-pieces, which appeal mightily to a much wider audience than just classical music enthusiasts. The dialogue and structure is brisk and precise, Forman's impassioned direction is flawless, the sound is a feast for your ears and the choreography a feast for your eyes. Associating a film as lavish would spring a costume drama to mind, although even haters of that genre will find much to admire here. In fact, anyone at all who likes music, drama or movies will enjoy Amadeus.

Rating:
Summary: amazing
Review: personally, I think F. Murray Abraham's performance is the greatest performance I have ever seen in a movie. The movie in it's self is an amazing movie, one of my favorites, but his haunting performance will remain with you for days. This is film-making at its finest.

Rating:
Summary: MILOS' BRILLIANT ADAPTATION OF GREAT FICTION
Review: As a lover of great music I feel it my duty to point out that "Amadeus" is a movie about two people, Mozart and Salieri, who never really met in real life. Sorry, if the truth hurts. Nevertheless, the essence of the film, as pure fiction, is electrifying. Tom Hulce is underrated as the star of this film. Though he lost the Oscar to fellow performer F. Murray Abraham, Hulce's performance is the best thing in the movie. In a nut shell, "Amadeus" follows the brief life of composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and his days as court composer for the duke of Austria. There's mystery, jealousy, mayhem and murder. The film's tag line "Everything you've heard is true," seems a bit awkward, considering that everything therein is pure fiction, thus I find the tag line a little hard to swallow.
Warner Home Video has done an outstanding job on the remastering of this film. Their original 'flipper disc' left much to be desired. This time around we are given the full director's cut in one uninterrupted play with bold, rich colors, great depth of fine details and astounding resolution. The soundtrack's 5.1 reissue is equally impressive. The music track explodes. Also included on disc two, an informative documentary, some stills and theatrical trailers. A well rounded out supplement to the film.

Rating:
Summary: The mistery of the genius .....
Review: I absolutely love this film because the object of the movie is the MUSICAL GENIUS who never will be arased from the history........ Magical Mozart who is getting bigger and bigger than life..... who looked as compete idiot in his present life.........his choice of the wife does not sounds so admiravle as well... But his misic !!!!!1111 It is belongs to infiity as weel to eterity...... How is the nature could be so tricky and so sloopy???? I looked at Mozart's manusrips of his musicals scores, they loked as so perfect as God was dictating music to his ears as well his hadwritings has no marks, he had not a one hesitation in his creativity. Imagine this man was burried in the public grave??????? Please, God justify the Your creation !!!!!!!!!!!!! We love Mozart music so much that we we can be patient and we will find him.... DNA or not..............Please, the times reveal your secret!!!!!!!!!!

Rating:
Summary: Something Wonderful
Review: Even as a kid, I knew this movie was special. It was entertaining, funny, dramatic and clever. But it went well beyond that. This is a story about man and god. About effort and gift. About natural inborn talent versus hard work and sacrifice. It makes you think about fairness and corruption, and you can't help but identify strongly with the villain of the peice.

The performances in the movie are brilliant, with the possible exception of Mozart's wife, Constanza, who I found to be cloying and annoying. Mozart himself is a study in the contradictions so common to the human condition.

How is it that beauty, true beauty, can come out of the corrupt? And how is it that those who seek to do the right thing can so often fall into dishonor?

These are amongst the questions asked by the film and they stay with you long after the credits roll.

Rating:
Summary: Brilliance...sheer brilliance!
Review: Come on people...this is by far and away one of the best movies of all time! I firmly believe that no matter what the other reviewers say, this movie is spectacular! It is not historically accurate. It wasn't intended to be. This movie is fiction based on the life of Mozart through the eyes of a jealous Salieri. I myself am a professional classical musician, and can tell you what the music history books say. Please see this movie as what it was intended for.

This is a brilliant masterpiece, from the impeccable musical score (that is sure to send chills up and down your spine!) to the actors splendid performances. It is entertaining and witty, and gives you some insight into the world of a genius. It is a joy to watch over and over again.

Rating:
Summary: Great DVD
Review: The quality of this DVD is outstanding. Content-wise, I am a big lover of the theatrical release, and so was a little apprehensive about the director's cut. Some of the added material is just okay, but some of it (such as a scene between Constanza and Salieri, which adds real heft to their meeting at the death-bed scene ) make the director's cut preferable, at least by a slim margin. One thing the added material does not do is in any way "ruin" the movie, which I had feared. Less can be more, but here the more is okay, at least in this "Amadeus"-lover's opinion. And all added material does have a logic to it---it's not just thrown in for the sake of throwing it in. You can see what the director was thinking, how those scenes function. And the extras here are fascinating. I think this is a terrific buy for the money. VHS was never like this!

Rating:
Summary: Hollywood sensationalism
Review: Pretty bad...not historically accurate, the character who plays Mozart is quite a overdone actor, the one who does Salieri (who was nominated for an Oscar?! Just goes to show you the quality of the oscars nowadays..) a little better.. Did these guys just want to make it to the oscars or something? Try "Forget Mozart" instead of this ... (If you love he music of mozart, Amadues will corrupt, infect the image of mozart in your mind, with inanities) Mozart with an American accent?