Amadeus (1984)

Directed by: Milos Forman

Starring: F. Murray Abraham

***1/2

If I was anything after watching Amadeus for just the second time in many years, it wasn't blown away, nor was it even all that impressed. In fact, I was disappointed. I remembered little other than that I really liked the movie as I sat down for the three hour biopic of sorts. Now, having seen it again, I think that I may have just been swept up in the truely amazing performance by F. Murray Abraham as Antonio Salieri and the miraculous tune of Mozart's compositions.

Very few scenes in this film go unaccompanied by music. The DVD actually has a special track on which only the music is played underneath the photography. That alone suggests that there's not much time spent without it. The music is not wasted in the sense that I don't want to hear it because it is beautifully composed music. It is wasted, however, in that it overwelms many scenes. It takes away from performances and drama because it commits the cardinal sin of using music in a film... it minipulates the audience. It minipulates the audience in a positive way however, positive enough for this film to take home a best picture Oscar.

Now its not like the music manipulated the film so much that people have adored a Plan 9 from Outer Space quality of film. Amadeus is a very entertaining movie that is primarily driven by a very compelling character. Antonio Salieri, after attempting suicide, confesses to a priest that he is responsible for the death of the great composer Wolfgang Amadeus Motzart (Tom Hulce)thiry-two years ago. We go on in flashback format to see Salieri's jealousy and rage mount towards Motzart and learn through his confession that he had plans to kill Motzart. I wouldn't really consider what ends up happening to be murder but Salieri's motives can not be misunderstood. Despite his desire to honor God with his music, he admits that he represents God's image of mediocrity.

The scope of the film is very much what you'd expect from an 19th Century period piece. The set designs and costumes are extraordinary, even if at times overkill. There is only so many castles and those weird wigs you can deal with before you start to wish this movie could take place in modern day Hollywood. But Amadeus is quite the contrary. Its Shakespearan in story and style and by staying true to that it makes all these real-life events as shocking as they are believable. On the other hand, with a film of such grand stature and one that had no qualms about running long, I was discouraged by the jarring leap it made incidently at the flipping of the disc. It appeared that there were two movies in one. On side one of the DVD were the character introductions and more importantly and suggestion that Salieri wasn't a big fan of Wolfgang. On side two, all of a sudden we are knee deep in a plot to kill him. Granted, the plan has to start somewhere but it was so sudden and too fast a jump to seem provoked. That, I would call the biggest problem with the movie as a whole as the time spent trying to accept that jump was time invested lost.

If I'm being consistent with my review this is a three star movie but I need to be honest with myself. I came right out and said I was disappointed after watching this movie for a second time and I'm relatively certain that the few problems I mentioned are not the reason. Despite the four star netflix rating starring me in the face all these years, I've convinced myself that Amadeus is a five star masterpiece... perhaps my favorite movie of the 80s. Its only logical that when expectations so high aren't met, disappointment sets in. In short, I may have been disappointed with how I felt about the movie, but this movie is far from a disappointment.