84 From ’84: Amadeus

A The life, success and troubles of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, as told by Antonio Salieri, the contemporaneous composer who was deeply jealous of Mozart’s talent and claimed to have murdered him.

Cast:

• F. Murray Abraham as Antonio Salieri
• Tom Hulce as Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
• Elizabeth Berridge as Constanze Mozart
• Roy Dotrice as Leopold Mozart
• Simon Callow as Emanuel Schikaneder
• Christine Ebersole as Caterina Cavalieri
• Jeffrey Jones as Emperor Joseph II

1984 memories

🎵Amadeus, Amadeus, oh, oh, oh Amadeus, Come and rock me Amadeus!🎵

Amadeus was huge in 1984. I remember all the buildup to the movie. The trailers, the entertainment shows, even news stories. It was a big deal. And everyone became a Mozart fan, or claimed they had always been a fan.

I didn’t see this in the theater or at home. I saw this at school, in music class. And then we listened and played Mozart the rest of the year. Mozart is an awesome composer. But I had no desire to watch the movie in school and spend the rest of the year learning Mozart. At the time I preferred Falco’s little diddy…Rock Me Amadeus.

It was a huge hit, released months after the movie came out and soared to the top of the charts. You couldn’t turn on MTV or a radio without hearing the song.

Let’s see if Amadeus is still worth watching…

40th Anniversary Re-watch

Amadeus is still worth watching. It is a great movie. What I didn’t remember is the way the story is told. It’s not from Mozart’s viewpoint, rather from his arch-rival Salieri.

Salieri is admitted to a psychiatric hospital after attempting suicide and saying he murdered Mozart. The movie id told in a flashback as Salieri tells his tale to a priest in the hospital. It’s a tale of one man’s jealousy and rivalry that spanned a lifetime.

Mozart is a young, rambunctious musician who’s musical genius shines. Salieri is the court musician who knows he isn’t as good as Mozart and never will be. When Mozart Is called to Emperor Joseph’s court to compose an Opera the jealousy and hate oozes from him.

When Mozart rewrites and improves Salieri’s music in front of the court, Salieri is humiliated. The act wasn’t malicious, it was Mozart being young and helpful. At least he intended it to be helpful. From that moment Salieri set out to discredit and destroy Mozart.

Tom Hulce played Mozart brilliantly. I have no idea what the real Mozart was like, but I’ll always think of him with Hulce in mind. And the laugh, that infectious laugh. Mozart is portrayed as being ahead of his time and a misunderstood genius. Hulce plays it perfectly.

It was fun seeing principal Rooney from Ferris Bueller as Emperor Joseph. He did a fine job but I could only see him as the principal, not a royal emperor.

The real star of the show is F. Murray Abraham who plays Salieri. He is able to display the jealousy and hatred. When he is working with Mozart on the final piece there are glimpses of a man who knows he should have been working with Mozart the entire time, not against him.

Favorite Line:

That was not Mozart laughing, Father… that was God. That was God laughing at me through that obscene giggle.

Amadeus is a fantastic movie and holds the test of time. If you haven’t seen it you need to watch it. It’s obvious why it is one of the top movies of 1984.

Amadeus was nominated for over 50 awards, and a total of 11 Oscars. Best Sound, Best Makeup, Film Editing, Costume Design, Cinematography, Art Direction, Screenplay Director, Picture and two, yes, two Best Actor nominations. Both Hulce and Abraham earned the Best Actor nomination. Amadeus is the last movie to have two actors or actress from the same movie earn a nomination

Amadeus cleaned up at the Oscars winning eight total awards, it lost Best Cinematography and Film Editing to The Killing Fields. Abraham beat out Hulce for the Best Actor award.

Amadeus hit theaters on 19 September 1984. It earned over $52 million dollars domestically on a $18 million budget. Making it the 12th highest grossing movie of 1984.

Did you watch Amadeus? If so let me know your thoughts in the comments below or on X(Twitter). The main Geekster channel is @TRNSocial and I’m @MileHighSamurai You can also find me on Bluesky @MileHighSamurai

8/10 stars

Check out the entire 84 From ’84 movie series