Release Date: 12/23/1997 Original Release: 1984 Format: DVD Widescreen Length: 158 minutes Rating:PG (MPAA) Rating Reason: (Reason unavailable) UPC: 085393621827 Studio: Warner Home Video
Dramas, Biography, Rivalry, Classical Music, Classic, Tragedy, Recommended, Character Study, Period Piece, Achievers, Theatrical Release, Essential Cinema
Description
In a lavish 18th century parlor in Austria, an elderly man is found, by his servant, with his throat slashed. The wound is self-inflicted, and the man is the little-known composer Salieri (F. Murray Abraham), contemporary and adversary of the now-famed, but once reviled, composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (Tom Hulce). Later, from his cell in an insane asylum, Salieri tells a priest (Herman Meckler) the story of his association with Mozart, confessing that he actually killed the brilliantly gifted but troubled young man. Based on the award-winning play by Peter Shaffer, Milos Forman's riveting, brilliant, Oscar-winning AMADEUS is a fictionalized account of the real-life mysterious death of Mozart. Abraham, in the role that won him the Best Actor Oscar, is the celebrated court composer to Joseph II (Jeffrey Jones)--his confidence and religious dedication shaken when he meets the boorish 26-year-old Mozart as he chases his future wife (Elizabeth Berridge) around a party while making obscene remarks. Furious that this clownish boy can produce such beautiful music, Salieri determines to keep Mozart's talent from lasting recognition and sets himself on a course for Mozart's destruction that leads to his own as well. Mozart continues to mount beautiful, moving operas (incredibly staged in the film), but becomes obsessed with writing a Requiem as his friends, family, health, and resources waste away, Salieri's manipulating presence always there. It is hard to imagine anyone--whether they are knowledgeable about classical music or not--who would not be held captive by this superb feast for the eyes and ears, a film whose excellence can be felt in every detail.
DVD Features
Region 1 Snap Case Letterbox - 1.85 Widescreen - 2.35 Audio: Dolby Digital 5.1 - English Dolby Digital Surround - French Additional Release Material: Isolated Music Score - Sir Neville Marriner - Conductor Trailers: Original Theatrical Trailer Interactive Features: Scene Access Interactive Menus Text/Photo Galleries: Production Notes Biographies: Cast & Crew
Doe - A deer, a female deer.... Ray - a drop of golden sun.... Me - A name I call myself.... Far - A long, long way to go.... C'mon everybody. Join in! Yeah. You all know this one. Let's all sing... Read the whole review at MatchFlick
Posted on November 13, 2007
Reviewed by: Jarrod
'Amadeus' is an impressively opulent, sensuous, elegant, film about Mozart, perhaps the most famous of all classical composers, and among the most prolific. He was a child prodigy, who composed... Read the whole review at MatchFlick
Posted on August 7, 2006
Reviewed by: David Hurlbert
You do not have to be a film student, opera fan, history enthusiast, and/or music lover to find Amadeus (1984) to be a beautifully entertaining and extremely fine film. From the same director who... Read the whole review at MatchFlick
Posted on October 14, 2008
Posted on November 13, 2007
