Not only is
"Amadeus" one of the greatest cinematic achievements
of all-time, it does something no other reissue has done in a
while--it manages to remain the same, despite a few scene
additions. The reissue is the director's cut, by that
master of film Mr. Milos Forman. He has added more scenes
and has even switched a couple around to make the film all the
more powerful and brilliant.
"Amadeus" portrays the intense rivalry between 18th
century composers Antonio Salieri (F. Murray Abraham) and
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (Tom Hulce). Both are brilliant
composers, but Salieri becomes enraged with jealousy at Mozart's
immature ways and lackadaisical approach to
composition. Salieri even orchestrates an ellaborate
attempt to make Mozart think he is actually going crazy.
Abraham won a much deserved Oscar for Best Actor, as he delivers
a tour de force performance as one of the most loathsome
creatures ever captured on camera. Hulce is eccentric and
wacky as the musical genius, and Elizabeth Berridge is lovely as
Mozart's wife. Simon Callow, Christine Ebersole, and
Jeffrey Jones costar.
Forman's style of direction
brilliantly weaves together the action with the best music from
both composers. Even if you think the film will be boring,
listening to the music is well worth the 158 minutes running
time, even more than that with the extended and added scenes.
When it was first released in 1984, the critical acclaim was
minimal. Somehow, the Academy saw past some of the
negative reviews and nominated it for 11 awards, 8 of which it
walked away with. Now, it is regarded as one of the
greatest films of all-time, and should be. The director's
cut is what Forman wanted, and it is better than the original
version, as hard as that is to believe. I can't wait until
the DVD comes out.
