Amadeus, 1984.
Directed by Miloš Forman.
Starring F. Murray Abraham, Tom Hulce, Elizabeth Berridge, Simon Callow, Roy Dotrice, Christine Ebersole, Jeffrey Jones, and Charles Kay.
SYNOPSIS:
Miloš Forman and Peter Shaffer’s 1984 classic Amadeus gets its debut on 4K Ultra HD, although you’ll only find the theatrical version here, and the bonus features are a bit lacking. However, this is a wonderful movie that’s very much worth revisiting, so that alone makes this a highly recommended release.
Amadeus may be my favorite bio pic, simply because Peter Shaffer’s script, which was based on his play, takes so many liberties with its two main characters in pursuit of its main theme, which can be summed up as, “Life isn’t fair, especially where creative endeavors are concerned.” The point isn’t to learn about the actual lives of those characters — if you want that, watch a documentary.
Those two main characters are, of course, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (Tom Hulce), an extraordinarily gifted but brash and reckless composer, and Antonio Salieri (F. Murray Abraham), court composer to Holy Roman Emperor Joseph II (Jeffrey Jones) and a skilled musician in his own right.
The story is told in flashback as an elderly Salieri is committed to a psychiatric hospital after attempting suicide and confesses his fraught relationship with Mozart to a priest, Father Vogler (Richard Frank). Salieri intensely disliked Mozart from the first time he met him, since his perceived rival was not only incredibly gifted but also possessed an irritating, high-pitched laugh and a voracious appetite for women and alcohol.
Mozart has no idea how Salieri feels, however, which leads him to tell his older colleague all about his trials and tribulations. That sets him up for what Salieri believes will be his ultimate revenge on Mozart: he dons a disguise reminiscent of one Mozart’s late father once wore and commissions a Requiem Mass from the younger composer.
Mozart is already overworked writing what would become “The Magic Flute,” but he pours himself into the new work too. Salieri hopes Mozart, who he senses has many unresolved issues from his relationship with his father, will die in the process and he can play the Requiem Mass at Mozart’s funeral and claim credit for it. The scheme is Shakespearean in its diabolical nature and, of course, it ultimately lays bare the corrosive nature of Salieri’s feelings.
Yes, Amadeus takes many liberties with its source material, starting with the very small likelihood that the real Salieri was bothered by Mozart at all, especially since he was an accomplished composer at the time. However, anyone who has pursued artistic endeavors has probably been frustrated when encountering others whose gifts seem to be much greater; tack on some annoying personality traits and the irritation can grow.
Which circles back to the theme I mentioned at the beginning of this review: “Life isn’t fair, especially where creative endeavors are concerned.” Is there some annoying so-and-so somewhere who has been more successful than me, and whose abilities seem to be gifted by the gods? (In my case, I write fiction.)
Yes, there is, but I try to keep my focus on my own path and not worry about others, lest I fall into the same dark pit Salieri found himself in.
This new 4K Ultra HD edition of Amadeus marks the movie’s debut on the format, although you’ll only find the theatrical version here, not the director’s cut that was issued on DVD in 2002 and was the only version of the film available on home video in the years since. I honestly don’t have a distinct preference for one version over the other — even if those extra 20 minutes in the director’s cut aren’t really necessary, I still enjoy spending more time in that story world.
As befitting a movie that won eight Oscars, the theatrical version was restored in 4K last year by the Academy Film Archive and The Saul Zaentz Co. Restoration. It looks stunning, of course. Anyone who complains about a soft image should remind themselves that many of the interior scenes were lit only by candlelight, so it’s not really possible for this movie to display the kind of clarity that other films remastered for 4K have shown.
You also get a code for a digital copy, although the bonus features found here are a bit lacking. You’ll probably want to hang onto previous editions of Amadeus if you’re a fan, since the only extras are the 2002 The Making of Amadeus, which runs 60 minutes, and the new 23-minute Amadeus: The Making of a Masterpiece.
The former is pretty much a relic from another era these days, where a smattering of short featurettes is usually deemed enough for a movie on disc. It’s a meaty making-of that charts the film from the earliest days of its development through to its release and ultimate place in movie history.
The new featurette brings together cast members F. Murray Abraham, Tom Hulce, Simon Callow, and Christine Ebersole, music historian Jon Burlingame, and production designer Patrizia Von Brandenstein via separate Zoom interviews to talk about the film. (Shaffer and Forman have both passed away.) It’s a nice little chat, but we don’t learn anything about the restoration of the theatrical cut, unfortunately.
So, yes, this release is a bit underwhelming, but Amadeus is still a wonderful movie and this disc is a must-purchase for fans for that reason.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
Brad Cook
