Year: 1984
Director: Milos Forman
Country: U.S
Language: English.
The history of Cinema has had a large number of great biographical films. Spike Lee's Malcolm X (1991) gave us great insight into the life of the controversial black nationalism leader. A Beautiful Mind (2001) showed us the warped world of a mathematician known as John Nash. While Milos Forman's Amadeus isn't as historically accurate as either of those, it certainly is as entertaining.
Amadeus concerns a man named Antonio Salieri (F. Murray Abraham) who believes that Mozart's music is divine. He wishes he was himself as good a musician as Mozart (Tom Hulce) so that he can praise the Lord through composing. but he can't understand why God favored Mozart to be his instrument. Salieri is set to take revenge.
What makes Amadeus so wonderful, is that it's not about Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart at all! The key character in this film is Salieri, a mad and obsessed figure, who feels incredibly mediocre when compared to his rival Mozart. Tom Hulce's performance as the great musician is very unconventional. Instead of a serious character who perfected his craft through time and patience, we get a light-hearted free-spirited rebel who is not above low brow humor.
While Amadeus is the title of the film and one of the main characters, it also represents a major theme in the film. Amadeus means "love of God", though Salieri's love is of obsession, and like all obsessive loves there is great jealousy. Of course though this claims to be a "biographical" film it is very inaccurate and full of blatant lies, though if you're not looking for 100% truth you will enjoy this film.
In conclusion, this wonderfully constructed film holds an important message about the self-destructive nature of jealousy. It also has a lot to say about enjoying life and not taking things too seriously. The score, because it is Mozart, is absolutely divine and the cinematography is captivating. Amadeus will surely inspire and entertain. Praise it! 4/5
No comments:
Post a Comment