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Rating:  - Amadeus Is Perfectly Named
I recently watched AMADEUS for the second time and was amazed by what a perfect film it is. Totally historically accurate to the life of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart? No, but the script faithfully follows the basic facts of his life and death with a heavy dose of speculation. Tom Hulce is simply wonderful as Mozart and he believably creates a vulgar, annoying (who can forget that awful laugh?)often socially clueless little man who still fulfills the meaning of his second name "Amadeus" in being beloved by God at least in terms of musical talent. F. Murray Abraham is perfect as Austrian Emperor Joseph's, court composer, Salieri. Salieri possessed social skills, musical talent and training, burning ambition and at least in the beginning piousness. It seems plausible that Salieri's realization of himself as a mediocre composer compared to the musically great though often bizarre Mozart could have driven him to obsession and madness. The costumes and interior furnishings in the film are beautiful and the Prague filming location which stands in for Vienna fully creates the atmosphere of an 18th century European city. Though Hulce and Abraham are the obvious acting standouts the rest of the film is very well cast. I'm no music scholar but Mozart's music which comprises the score seems to be perfectly presented. And the scenes from his operas are so well recreated in the original 18th century manner that they alone are reason enough to watch the film. Yet the rich universal themes are the biggest strengths of AMADEUS. It is a movie that can be enjoyed by those who think they hate classical music or films with historical settings.
Rating:  - Enjoy the show but remember its fiction!
This is an enjoyable if grossly historically distorted account of Mozart and those around him. Please remember not to believe it! The pianist Moscheles who visited Salieri during his last illness in 1825 related that he tearfully protested his innocence to the last! Here we are continuing to believe in this nonsense.
Mozart's letters show him capable of vulgarites, but nonetheless reflects a generally sober and ambitious young man at times too full of himself, and prone to imaginary enemies, like his dad Leopold. Thus rivals are unnecessarily maligned e.g Clementi, and in this movie, Salieri. Contrary to the portrayal, Salieri was a prodigy, if not on such dimensions as Mozart. He was extremely successful as a composer, not quite overshadowed by Mozart in the 1780's yet, and considered by Gluck to be his true heir (indeed a fair assessment). At the time of Mozart's death, both Mozart and Salieri had fallen out of favour at court, since the new emperor Leopold II had no time for them but prefered his own favourite Cimarosa. Thus indeed there was no reason for Salieri to murder Mozart! In fact during this time they actually became good friends. Only some time after Mozart's death did senseless and malicious rumours start to spread about Salieri's poisoning him. It resulted in Pushkin's play, Dargomizshky's opera, and now in our times Amadeus. In fact Mozart died of overwork because he was trying to make enough money to support his expensive lifestyle (he detested being looked down upon by the nobility). What do we know of the true Salieri? He was highly respected, and Beethoven sought in out as a teacher. He was also generous towards his pupils, giving lessons to Schubert and young Liszt for free because they could not afford the fees.
Constanze did not fsir so badly. But still there were untruths, such as she abandoning him during his illness. He only fell ill after she returned from her treatment at the spa (yes she was ill, not going for fun). After his death, she proved to be an astute business woman and great custodian of his music, ensuring not only his lasting fame but also that their children were never in want. The world thought badly of her as a result of her father-in-law's and sister-in-law's relentless campaign against her.
Rating: - DIRECTORS CUT
Having always liked the movie Amadeus...I foung the directors cut to be better than the theater version. There is about 20 minutes of additional footage that explains a bit more of the movie.
Rating:  - what a terible waste
The "director's cut of AMADEUS is terrible IMHO.
How someone could transform an exciting, exhilariting movie like the original theatrical release of AMADEUS into a depressing, sad, bio is beyond my ability to understand.
Remember how Apocalypse Now was transformed into Apocalypse Redux? And how good the redux version was?
The Director's cut of AMADEUS is like the original cut of Apocalypse Now. Dark and depressing. If this version was edited by Milos Forman himself then he must have some serious issues.
I expected joy from THE DIRECTOR'S CUT of AMADEUS but received an honest rendition of absolute sadness. What can I say? It was just very sad.
It makes you understand the worth of film edting.
I'm sorry to have to write this, but that's the way it is. Only buy this cut if you're on prozac.
HOW ON EARTH DID THIS VERSION OF AMADEUS EVER FIND IT'S WAY ONTO A DVD?
Astonishing.
RD
Rating: - Stick with Theatrical Version
This version of "Amadeus" was fabulously disappointing. The writing in the extra scenes are atrociously bad. They don't flow at all and they are so badly written they make what was left in the theatrical version look bad. It's amazing to see how they made a Best Picture out of this movie.
The extra scenes are also dull, obviously written to flesh out a plot that didn't need fleshing out- you can infer everything these scenes add, or, make your own interpretation of Salieri's motivations and character. In this way, the scenes insult the intelligence of the viewer. And they're boring too! They slow the pace of the movie down, and it's far less exciting. That's something the theatrical version did well - it was very exciting.
For people who know the original well, you're not missing anything with the Director's Cut.
For people who have never seen Amadeus, at least see the theatrical version first.
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