Amadeus
1984 USA Color 160 minutes
Review
Mediocrities everywhere, now and to come
Antonio Salieri (F. Murray Abraham), court composer to the emperor in 18th-century Vienna, has not been blessed with musical genius. He lives music and has dedicated his life to becoming a great composer. And before meeting Amadeus Mozart (Tom Hulce), Salieri thought he was. When Mozart arrives in Vienna he is commissioned by the Emperor to write a
German-language opera.
Salieri becomes viciously jealous of Mozart, but quietly admires the brilliance of his work. When Mozart keeps on demonstrating the mediocrity of Salieri, the older composer snaps. Desperate for revenge on God for giving the rogue Amadeus such talent, Salieri vows to destroy the young composer. When Mozart gets into financial trouble, having no success
with his work, Salieri takes the opportunity to hatch a dark plot to bring him down.
Cast
- F. Murray Abraham .... Antonio Salieri
- Tom Hulce .... Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
- Elizabeth Berridge .... Constanze Mozart
- Simon Callow .... Emanuel Schikaneder
- Roy Dotrice .... Leopold Mozart
- Christine Ebersole .... Katerina Cavalieri
- Jeffrey Jones .... Emperor Joseph II
- Charles Kay .... Count Orsini-Rosenberg
- Kenneth McMillan .... Michael Schlumberg
- Kenny Baker .... Parody Commendatore
- Lisabeth Bartlett .... Papagena
- Barbara Bryne .... Frau Weber
- Martin Cavani .... Young Salieri
- Roderick Cook .... Count Von Strack
- Milan Demjanenko .... Karl Mozart
Links and more
Amadeus laughs
Mary me
To many notes
Mozart's biography at The 1911 Encyclopedia
