Day 132: Amadeus (1984)

Movie #84 – Amadeus (1984) - 180 min, cert PG.

I seem to have dropped behind with my reviews again, so I shall have to write a few quick short ones to catch up.

This movie tells the story of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart from the point of view of Antonio Salieri, the court composer to Emperor Joseph II. Salieri is reasonably well regarded in Vienna, but when the young upstart Mozart appears on the scene, Salieri knows just enough about music to recognise the real genius in Mozart’s work, and how inferior his own work looks by comparison. But despite Mozart’s gift he acts like a modern-day rock star – drinking to excess and cavorting with his young girlfriend like a couple of kids. Salieri becomes deeply jealous of Mozart’s ability and despises him for the way he appears to squander it.

A very watchable movie with good performances from the two lead actors – Tom Hulce & F. Murray Abraham as Mozart & Salieri respectively. Not really the sort of movie I would normally sit down and watch, which explains why I’ve not seen it before, but quite enjoyable nonetheless. It’s worth watching just for the soundtrack alone, and Mozart’s own music sets the mood perfectly.

Score – 7/10. Pretty good, but not really my sort of thing.

Next up is All About Eve, a black & white from 1950, which also doesn’t seem like my sort of film.