Amadeus

Amadeus, American dramatic film, released in 1984, that was a largely fictionalized account of the relationship between Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and his less talented but popular contemporary Antonio Salieri. The lushly detailed movie won eight Academy Awards, among them that for best picture, and four Golden Globe Awards, including that for best drama.

The movie begins in Vienna in 1823 as an old man, Antonio Salieri (played by F. Murray Abraham), cries out that he has killed Mozart and then attempts suicide. He is taken to an asylum, where Father Vogler (Richard Frank) comes to see him, and Salieri tells him his story. As a young man, Salieri wished to be a composer, like the much younger and already famous Mozart, but his father is opposed. Salieri prays to God, promising to remain celibate and devoted if God will make him a famous composer. Shortly after that, his father dies, freeing him to follow his dream. He is educated in Vienna and becomes the court composer for Emperor Joseph II (Jeffrey Jones). One day in 1781, Mozart comes to Vienna to perform at the request of his employer, Archbishop Colloredo (Nicholas Kepros). Salieri attends the performance, which takes place in the Archbishop’s home, and stumbles upon a young man and young woman playing with each other in a childish and lewd fashion. Salieri is horrified to discover that this unworthy man is Mozart (Tom Hulce). Later, when Mozart is introduced at court, Salieri presents him with a musical piece, and Mozart points out its flaws and improvises improvements. Salieri feels that God has blessed an inferior man with exceptional skills and has failed to reward his own devotion.

After the Emperor commissions an opera from Mozart, Salieri discovers that Mozart has had an affair with its lead actress, Katerina Cavalieri (Christine Ebersole), although he is also involved with Costanze Weber (Elizabeth Berridge). Despite Salieri’s entreaties to God, Mozart remains in Vienna and marries Costanze. The Emperor wishes to hire Mozart to teach music to his niece (which would bring in much-needed money), but Salieri dissuades the Emperor. Costanze, unaware of Salieri’s enmity toward Mozart, seeks his help in changing the Emperor’s mind, and she shows Salieri music written by Mozart to help plead her case. The quality of Mozart’s work causes Salieri to conclude that he has been betrayed by God, and he vows to ruin Mozart.

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Mozart’s father, Leopold (Roy Dotrice) chooses this moment to visit his son. Desperate to hide his financial disarray from his father, Mozart takes Leopold to a costume party. Afterward, a young woman named Lorl (Cynthia Nixon) arrives, saying that a benefactor has paid her to be a maidservant to the Mozarts; she is in fact a spy employed by Salieri. Salieri thus learns that Mozart is writing an opera based on the banned play The Marriage of Figaro, but all Salieri’s efforts to sabotage the opera come to naught. After learning of his father’s death in Vienna, Mozart in his grief writes the opera Don Giovanni, and the work inspires Salieri to concoct a scheme. Disguising himself in a costume previously worn by Leopold, Salieri commissions Mozart to write a Requiem. He plans to kill Mozart after the piece is written and then to pass it off as his own. Later, an actor, Emanuel Schikaneder (Simon Callow), commissions an opera from Mozart. Working on both commissions at once destroys Mozart’s health. He completes the opera, Die Zauberflüte (The Magic Flute), but faints during its premiere. Salieri helps Mozart return to his home and then stays with him as he labours to finish the Requiem by the following day. In the morning, Costanze locks up the uncompleted work, and shortly after that Mozart dies, frustrating Salieri’s plot.

Amadeus for a time increased the popularity of Mozart’s music, and the soundtrack album won the Grammy Award for best classical album in 1985. The movie was adapted by British playwright Peter Shaffer from his own play of the same title, which opened in London in 1979 and won a Tony Award in 1981. The bitter rivalry between Salieri and Mozart was fictional; in real life they were apparently friendly. The Requiem was in fact anonymously commissioned but not by Salieri. At the Academy Award ceremony, presenter Laurence Olivier failed to mention the other nominees for best movie before announcing Amadeus as the winner, an omission that producer Saul Zaentz remedied after accepting the statuette. Director Miloš Forman won his second Oscar for Amadeus; he previously won the award for One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975).

Production notes and credits

• Studios: AMLF and the Saul Zaentz Company
• Director: Miloš Forman
• Writer: Peter Shaffer
• Cinematography: Miroslav Ondříček

Cast

• F. Murray Abraham (Antonio Salieri)
• Tom Hulce (Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart)
• Elizabeth Berridge (Costanze Weber Mozart)
• Roy Dotrice (Leopold Mozart)
• Jeffrey Jones (Emperor Joseph II)

Academy Award nominations (* denotes win)

• Picture*
• Lead actor* (F. Murray Abraham)
• Lead actor (Tom Hulce)
• Art direction*
• Cinematography
• Costume design*
• Direction*
• Editing
• Makeup*
• Sound*
• Writing*