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... Read allThe 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.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.
- Won 8 Oscars
- 43 wins & 15 nominations total
- Papagena
- (as Lisabeth Bartlett)
- Young Salieri
- (as Martin Cavani)
Best Picture Winners by Year
Best Picture Winners by Year
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThe film ironically helped spark a revival of Salieri's music, which had previously languished in obscurity.
- GoofsBoth Mozart and Salieri are shown conducting an orchestra in modern style, by standing in front and waving the arms. In the 18th century, the conductor played first violin or harpsichord, the other musicians watching his head and hand movements. It was the rise of large orchestras in the 19th century that forced the conductor to abandon his instrument and take a more visible position.
- Quotes
Antonio Salieri: [reflecting upon a Mozart score] On the page it looked nothing. The beginning simple, almost comic. Just a pulse. Bassoons and basset horns, like a rusty squeezebox. And then suddenly, high above it, an oboe. A single note, hanging there, unwavering. Until a clarinet took over and sweetened it into a phrase of such delight! This was no composition by a performing monkey! This was a music I'd never heard. Filled with such longing, such unfulfillable longing, it had me trembling. It seemed to me that I was hearing the voice of God.
- Crazy creditsThe producer, screenplay writer and director thank the following for their boundless assistance in our effort to present the physical authenticity and aura you have seen and felt in "Amadeus": -The National Theatre of Czechoslovakia and Prague's Tyl Theatre management for allowing us to film in the Tyl sequences from the operas: "Abduction from the Seraglio," "The Marriage of Figaro," and "Don Giovanni." It was actually in this magnificently preserved theatre that Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart conducted the premiere performance of "Don Giovanni" on October 29, 1787. -His Eminence Cardinal Frantisek Tomasek for his kindness in permitting us to use his beautiful residence headquarters in Prague as the Emperor's palace. -The Barrandov Studios and CS Filmexport for their help in filming "Amadeus" in Prague and in castles and palaces throughout Czechoslovakia.
- Alternate versionsThe Orion Pictures logo, which was seen at the beginning of the film when it was first released theatrically, was not shown when the film played on both cable and commercial television, and is not seen on most VHS or DVD releases. It is included on the 1997 DVD of the theatrical cut, as well as the 2024 4K restoration.
- ConnectionsEdited into The Making of 'Amadeus' (2002)
- SoundtracksLe Nozze di Figaro (The Marriage of Figaro), K. 492, Act IV, Ah Tutti Contenti
(1786) (uncredited)
Music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Libretto by Lorenzo da Ponte
Performed by The Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields (as Academy of St Martin In The Fields)
Conducted by Neville Marriner
Excerpts Sung by Samuel Ramey (Figaro), Felicity Lott (Countess), Richard Stilwell (Count Almaviva), Isobel Buchanan (as Isabel Buchanan) (Susanna), Anne Howells (Cherubino), Deborah Rees (Barbarina), Alexander Oliver (Basilio), Robin Leggate (Don Curzio), John Tomlinson (Dr. Bartolo), and Willard White (Antonio)
Based on the life of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, played a terrific and hilarious performance by Tom Hulce. This also has the life of Antonio Salieri, a great and well deserved Oscar winning performance by F. Murray Abraham. Despite the story not being accurate, come on! This is a great movie that was a gigantic Oscar waiting to happen. Congrats to Amaudeus for bringing the beauty of classical music into out living rooms.
The story is that we start off with an older and more suicidal Salieri who blames himself for Mozart's death. When a priest comes to ask Salieri to plead forgiveness to the lord and wants to council him, Salieri describes who he was and how music inspired his life, he plays a few notes from his opera's that were masterpieces, the priest just looks at him not knowing the music. Salieri just looks at him with a smile and says "Ah, how about...?", he plays Mozart's most famous work and the priest gets excited saying "Oh, how charming! I'm sorry, I didn't know you wrote that!" smiling and knowing how it will please Salieri, Salieri just looks at him with a emotionless face "I didn't. That was Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart" and you see the priest's embarrassment. Just great and a perfectly played out performance by Abraham and Frank.
Tom Hulce gives Mozart this crazy and annoying yet nevertheless funny laugh that you can't help but laugh at it every time he does it. He brings such life to Mozart and an immaturity that I think some of us can relate too in being spoiled and always knowing you're the best at your talent. He marries Constanze played by Elizabeth Berridge and she does it remarkably well. Constanze is obviously the more mature one and is the only woman who can try to tame Mozart's crazy ways. When Salieri gets a little jealous that the emperor played by an under rated Jeffrey Jones, since he is the emperor's tutor, then the emperor demands more of Mozart and his music. Salieri vs. Mozart: on the next celebrity death match!
"Amadeus" is a fantastic movie that anyone could easily love and enjoy. It's definitely a must see for movie fans and anyone in general who is just looking for a good movie. This was the best picture of 1984 and it's well deserved, just trust me and the awesome reviews it's getting!
10/10
- Smells_Like_Cheese
- Nov 15, 2003
- Permalink
Details
- Release date
- Countries of origin
- Official site
- Languages
- Also known as
- Peter Shaffer's Amadeus
- Filming locations
- Barrandov Studios, Prague, Czech Republic(Studio, Volkstheater, Hospital Room, Mozart's Apartment and Staircase sets)
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $18,000,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $51,973,029
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $505,276
- Sep 23, 1984
- Gross worldwide
- $52,075,942
- Runtime2 hours 40 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 2.39 : 1