Amadeus (1984)

The life, success and troubles of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, as told by Antonio Salieri, the contemporaneous composer who was insanely jealous of Mozart's talent and claimed to have murdered him.

Director:

Milos Forman

Writers:

Peter Shaffer (original stage play), Peter Shaffer (original screenplay)

Stars:

F. Murray Abraham, Tom Hulce, Elizabeth Berridge

Top Rated Movies #83 | Won 8 Oscars. Another 33 wins & 14 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
F. Murray Abraham	...	Antonio Salieri
Tom Hulce	...	Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Elizabeth Berridge	...	Constanze Mozart
Roy Dotrice	...	Leopold Mozart
Simon Callow	...	Emanuel Schikaneder
Christine Ebersole	...	Katerina Cavalieri
Jeffrey Jones	...	Emperor Joseph II
Charles Kay	...	Count Orsini-Rosenberg
Kenneth McMillan	...	Michael Schlumberg (2002 Director's Cut)
Kenny Baker	...	Parody Commendatore
Lisbeth Bartlett	...	Papagena (as Lisabeth Bartlett)
Barbara Bryne	...	Frau Weber
Martin Cavina	...	Young Salieri (as Martin Cavani)
Roderick Cook	...	Count Von Strack
Milan Demjanenko	...	Karl Mozart

Storyline

Antonio Salieri believes that Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's music is divine and miraculous. He wishes he was himself as good a musician as Mozart so that he can praise the Lord through composing. He began his career as a devout man who believes his success and talent as a composer are God's rewards for his piety. He's also content as the respected, financially well-off, court composer of Austrian Emperor Joseph II. But he's shocked to learn that Mozart is such a vulgar creature, and can't understand why God favored Mozart to be his instrument. Salieri's envy has made him an enemy of God whose greatness was evident in Mozart. He is ready to take revenge against God and Mozart for his own musical mediocrity.

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Plot Keywords:

opera | composer | classical composer | 1800s | first person narration | 

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Taglines:

The man... The music... The madness... The murder... The motion picture...

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Genres:

Biography | Drama | History | Music

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for brief nudity

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook

Country:

USA France Czechoslovakia Italy

Language:

English Italian Latin German

Release Date:

19 September 1984 (USA)

Also Known As:

Amadeus: The Director's Cut

Filming Locations:

Tyl Theatre, Plzen, Czech Republic

Box Office

Budget:

$18,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$505,276, 23 September 1984

Gross USA:

$51,973,029

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$52,066,791

Company Credits

Production Co:

AMLF, The Saul Zaentz Company

Technical Specs

Runtime:

160 min 180 min (director's cut)

Sound Mix:

70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints) Dolby Digital (director's cut) Dolby (35 mm prints)

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.39:1

Did You Know?

Trivia

That really is Tom Hulce playing the piano on his back in one scene.

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Goofs

When Mozart is talking about the opera that will take place in harem, he uses the word "Turkey" as the country's name but in the 18th century, the Turkish country he is talking about is called "Ottoman Empire" and it does not take the name Turkey till 1920.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Antonio Salieri: Mozart! Mozart, forgive your assassin! I confess, I killed you...

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Crazy Credits

"Amadeus" was originally a National Theater Production in London, then produced in America by The Shubert Organization, Elizabeth I. McCann/Nelle Nugent and Roger Berlind.

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Alternate Versions

The Orion Pictures logo, which was seen at the beginning of the film when it was first released theatrically, was not shown when the film played on both cable and commercial television, and is not seen on the VHS or DVD releases.

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Connections

Referenced in At the Movies: Funny Farm/Rambo III/Big/Call Me/Crocodile Dundee II (1988)

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Soundtracks

Die Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute) Act 2 - Pa-Pa-Pa-Pa-Pa-Pa-Papagena!
(uncredited)
Written by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

User Reviews

An Excellent film of describing Mozart's life from wealthy with great fame that shatters in pieces

Amadeus is one tremendous film. The acting was great. Tom Hulce did wonderful and I have only seen him once in a film and that was Animal House. The rest of the cast was great to like F. Murry Abraham did a terrific job in his performance. The music was brilliant, I have never seen a film with such great performances in their plays. I really did admire this movie, everything in it was very interesting and after I watched the film I did a little research on Mozart. The script and directing was superb and the cinematography was brilliant. I couldn't of asked for a better film than Amadeus. I'm glad I saw this film!

Hedeen's outlook: 10/10!! **** A+