Movie #99 - Amadeus

"Amadeus. The man. The music. The magic. The madness. The murder. The mystery. The motion picture."

One of my favourite movies from the 1980's, this one has probably been skipped by a number of movie goers from my age group because it is a time piece, despite the fact that it won for Best Picture in 1984. It is set during the time of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and is full of costumes, set design, and makeup from that time period - however, do not let that aspect sway you from watching this amazing movie.

Milos Forman does a great job in depicting the life of Mozart along with the wonderful music composed during that era. Forman is one of those directors that doesn't do a movie every one or two years, so his films are usually of great quality. Seek out some of his other great works such as One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and Man on the Moon for some examples.

The real treat in this film is the contrasting leading role actors. Tom Hulce (probably better known for his role in Animal House, which is a major extreme in comparison to his accomplishments here) does a superb job as Mozart, while the darkest role of the movie is portrayed by F. Murray Abraham as Antonio Salieri. Similar to other roles in Abraham's resume, Salieri's character is devious, evil, and is one you love to hate. If you want a good movie villain template, use Abraham's Salieri - his scenes strengthen the movie and Abraham is a fitting Oscar winner for Best Actor. Unfortunately, for Hulce, Abraham and Hulce were nominated for Best Actor for the same movie - so someone had to win here.

F. Murray Abraham has done quite a few movies in his time... best known as a movie villain, he's been in a number of movies that I find amusing or entertaining such as Scarface, Mimic, Star Trek: Insurrection, and Thirteen Ghosts. However, it seems that Abraham has become quite fond of voice over narration, as he is now the permanent voice of PBS' production of Nature and some Nova broadcasts - he's good at it, don't get me wrong, but I'd like to see him do more villainous work.

Apart from the set design, the acting, and the music, Amadeus is just a good story. There is deception, greed, anger, jealousy, and love all wrapped into this time piece. If you choose to watch this film with an open mind, Milos Forman won't let you down. If you were to do a marathon of his acclaimed movies - you will definitely enjoy a nice range of great movies!