The Making of 'Amadeus' (2002) (V)

Director:

Bill Jersey

Release Date:

24 September 2002 (USA)

Genre:

Documentary

Tagline:

The remarkable story of one of the greatest motion pictures ever made

Plot:

This riveting film takes a look behind the scenes at one of the 20th century's cinema classics and at...

Plot Keywords:

Making Of | Interview | Behind The Scenes | Opera | Biography Filmmaking

Cast

  (Credited cast)

Milos Forman	...	Himself - Director
Peter Shaffer	...	Himself - Writer
Saul Zaentz	...	Himself - Producer
Neville Marriner	...	Himself - Music Director (as Sir Neville Marriner)
Tom Hulce	...	Himself - 'Mozart'
Jeffrey Jones	...	Himself - 'Emperor Joseph II'
Vincent Schiavelli	...	Himself - 'Salieri's Valet'
F. Murray Abraham	...	Himself - 'Salieri'
Michael Hausman	...	Himself - Executive Producer / AD
Patrizia von Brandenstein	...	Herself - Production Designer (as Patrizia Von Brandenstein)
Elizabeth Berridge	...	Herself - 'Constanze'
Twyla Tharp	...	Herself - Choreographer
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Theodor Pistek	...	Himself

Runtime:

60 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Czech

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Certification:

UK:U

Company:

Quest Productions

Trivia:

This documentary can be found on the two-disc special edition Amadeus (1984) director's cut DVD.

Quotes:

Jeffrey Jones: And I was thinking, oh, my God, the army is going to come and we're all going to jail because this was an act of rebellion.

Movie Connections:

Edited from Amadeus (1984)

Soundtrack:

THE MAGIC FLUTE - OVERTURE

Voice of Artists on their Own Tribute to "Voice of God" in Music

As we see movies that we find memorable, overwhelming and involving, we usually desire to know the background of their filming, to hear the cast, crew as well as the director what their experiences and their intentions were. Foremost, however, we are willing to get to know some hidden "cream" pieces of information from behind the "curtain" of camera. And that satisfying way of executing these facts is included in this remarkable documentary on filming one of the most significant and controversial movies that Hollywood ever produced, AMADEUS (1984) by Milos Forman.

The documentary, though not long, provides a viewer with a very clear view of the movie: its filming, its background, its intentions. First of all, Milos Forman, the director, Saul Zaentz, the producer and Peter Shaffer, the author of the book tell us lots of interesting facts about making the movie in Czechoslovakia. For instance, it seems pretty astonishing to realize the importance of Prague City in the whole production. The crew were allowed to shoot the movie in the wooden opera house where Mozart himself was at the premiere of his opera DON GIOVANNI in 1787. How nice it appears to know what their experience was.

Moreover, what I find really innovative is the way Mr Forman gives an interview as a director. He tells us, for instance, what a director should consider important in casting and dealing with actors while filming, for instance. I loved, here, the sentence he says about talk and confusion... What is more, he memorably reminds us all of a distinctive nature of plays in the theater and movies. Milos as well as Peter are very emotional and genuine in what they recall from that significant enterprise...and that is what I like best.

Besides, of course, we hear lots of cast who took part in the production about the impact of their roles. That is foremost the marvelous actor Tom Hulce who embodied Mozart so memorably that some people have since then associated Mozart's many portraits with Tom's face and, more to say, his characteristic laughter. He tells us, for instance, about getting used to portraying the composer and playing the piano as an actor... Among the main cast, that is also sympathetic actor F. Murray Abraham who played Antonio Salieri, including the young man filled with jealousy but also lots of plans for career and the old man discouraged, filled with bitterness and the tragic perception of endless loss. How could the two rivals, the two talents put up with each other behind the curtain? Here, an unforgettable scene is discussed: the dictation of CONFUTATIS from MOZART REQUIEM MASS. Besides, we get wonderful moments with Elizabeth Berridge (Constanza), Jeffrey Jones (Emperor Joseph), Vincent Schiavelli (a supporting role) who recall plenty of vivid events that one is not able to know elsewhere.

Putting it in a nutshell, this documentary is a memorable insight into how AMADEUS was being made, provides facts, emotions as well as true desire for tribute, artists' tribute to genius of geniuses, Wolfgang Ama Deus Mozart. Highly recommended!

Just as Peter Shaffer says at the end, we should say with him: "The thing that pleases me is the number of young people who discover the man, I think, was the greatest composer in the world."