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 the VHS or DVD releases.
- 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)
This film is an unusual biography, and I often like to compare it with Ed Wood, since both Ed Wood and Salieri were men who gave everything they had to their respective crafts and came up short. Salieri, a contemporary of Mozart, has only one dream - to be a great composer. Predating the prosperity gospel by about two hundred years, Salieri mistakes obsessing with God over his own earthly desires with actual godliness, even being happy when his father - who objects to Salieri's musical interests - chokes to death and leaves Salieri free to pursue his musical dreams. He chalks this up to God's will for his career. Problems begin when Salieri meets a twenty-something Mozart at the court of the Emperor in Vienna, where Salieri is the court composer. Mozart is everything Salieri is not - profane, forward, and a great composer. Salieri starts down the road to insanity as he realizes the childish Mozart has all of the gifts he ever wanted and has been denied. However, Salieri is not an outright failure as was Ed Wood. In many ways he is something worse than a ridiculous failure - he is mediocre, and worse yet, he knows it.
Salieri,angry at God for honoring a profane ungrateful boy like Mozart while ignoring his own one desire to be a great composer, swears to destroy Mozart. The strange thing is, as long as Mozart is alive, Salieri is the honored composer, not Mozart, though this just seems to infuriate Salieri even more. Salieri seems to be the only person in Vienna who recognizes Mozart's talent. This just begs the question - why did it never occur to Salieri that being able to recognize something as valuable before anyone else does is a talent in and of itself? After all, in 1975 the second best thing to being Bill Gates would have been to have recognized his genius and invested heavily in his success. But I digress.
The cinematography and art direction on this film are outstanding. The visuals start out light and festive, matching Mozart's mood and prospects. As poverty, illness, and the guilt of his father's death close in on Mozart during the second half of the film, the mood and visuals become very dark to match what is happening in Mozart's own life. Highly recommended.
- AlsExGal
- Jan 16, 2010
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
- $52,068,956
- Runtime2 hours 40 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 2.39 : 1
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