Amadeus (1984)
Directed by Miloš Forman
Disciplined Italian composer Antonio Salieri becomes consumed by jealousy and resentment towards the hedonistic and remarkably talented young Salzburger composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.
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Murray Abraham) and a quizzically earnest young priest brought to mind scenes shared by George Burns and Richard Benjamin in the film version of Simon’s comedy; and I could also detect something in the curl of Abraham’s lower lip and the rhythmic jabbing of his index finger to recall Robert Preston as, aptly, Professor Harold Hill in The Music Man.
Besides which, Forman’s decision should be interpreted as consciously reflecting Mozart’s, when he liberated opera from the mellifluous tyranny of the Italian language by setting Die Entführung aus dem Serail to a German text; which is, in turn, why The Magic Flute, concocted by its librettist Schikaneder as a populist fairy-tale pantomime, is sung in English in the film (and conducted by its composer in a manner more appropriate to Geraldo than Gesualdo).
Undoubtedly, the resulting nausea has contributed to my conviction that Amadeus needs an additional 20 minutes running time like The Magic Flute needs a drum solo.
Wedged between composer epics such as Ken Russell's lascivious Lisztomania (1975) and Bernard Rose's surly Beethoven biopic Immortal Beloved (1994), Amadeus fits perfectly, depicting the outrageous opulence of both its period and time of production, revealed for a new generation's illumination.
Perhaps Sophia Coppola should have studied this in addition to Ken Russell’s Lisztomania (1975), before she made her Marie Antoinette (2006).
I likened Tom Hulce’s Mozart (whose casting, by succeeding where the other failed, vindicates in extremis that of Ryan O’Neal in Barry Lyndon) to a composite Marx Brother, opposite whom Salieri has been stuck with the Margaret Dumont role.
It's a period film that was shot as though it took place in modern-day Los Angeles; Forman and cinematographer Miroslav Ond?í?ek (who'd worked with the director, on and off, from the beginning of both their careers) don't both with painterly lighting or compositions, in some desperate attempt to ape Kubrick's Barry Lyndon (which perfected that style and has never been remotely equaled); they dive right in and capture the color, line, and texture of the dressed-up Prague locations, and of Theodor Pišt?k's costumes (rather more fanciful than accurate) with the same intention to find the blunt reality of things that served them as young Czechs attempting to tear holes in the fabric of Communism.
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Even biographical masterpieces Schindler’s List and A Man for All Seasons lack the carefree nature of this film.
Zaentz and Forman would collaborate again on "Amadeus" a few years later and share their second Academy Award for Best Picture.
After the success of "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest," Forman again hauled in loads of Oscars with "Amadeus" (1984) and continued to demonstrate his affinity for comedies with social conscience in "The People vs. Larry Flynt" (1996) and "Man on the Moon" (1999).
This was the second English language film for Czech-born filmmaker Milos Forman, who would go on to win two Oscars (one for this movie and one for Amadeus ), and was the picture that catapulted him onto the A-list for directors.
Czech-born Milos Foreman's ("The Fireman's Ball"/"Amadeus") crowd pleasing psychological tragi-comedy "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest," based on the 1962 best-selling novel by Ken Kesey and the play by Dale Wasserman, is a cute satire about a mental institution as a metaphor for society.
Certainly it has become clear that Milos Forman is not a particularly great director, though he has made many good films, including The Firemen's Ball and Amadeus .
Amadeus ranks as his finest film, and that's a significant claim considering his other fine films— The Firemen's Ball , Hair, The People vs. Larry Flynt, and One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (winner of the Academy Award in 1976).