The Eighties was a very strong decade for movies.. for instance, this tour de force from Czech Director, Milos Forman. Some truly impressive set pieces, including theatrical opera scenes, as well as busy Period street shots of Vienna bringing a veracity to the screen above and beyond the expected ornate and palatial.
Credit: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0086879/?ref_=mv_close
Tom Hulce shines as the asinine, uncouth-but-touched-by-God composer and F Murray Abraham his greatest fan and jealous enemy. Indeed, they were both up for the Best Actor Oscar, for Abraham to pip Hulce to the statuette.
1985 was the Academy year of Amadeus, taking 8 Oscars including Director, Screenplay and Best Picture for legendary producer Saul Zaentz. (Bit of a mystery why the Soundtrack didn’t win though, I thought it was tremendous…)
I will say, the performances although excellent have a variance in accents from British to Trans-Atlantic which at times jars a little, but the commitment and virtuosity shines through.
The script for me is the star though. Written by Peter Shaffer of Equus fame, although (rightly) criticised at the time for taking (huge) liberties with the truth of Mozart’s life and his relationship with Salieri, it really is a masterwork as a play; characterisation, thought processes, dialogue and the interplay between the various court figures vying for power.
Chiefly it’s a piece about jealousy and how it can consume someone to the point of obsession. Anyone who has experienced it first hand, come face to face with those who would not just hold back, but seek to do damage, sabotage - whilst pretending to be a friend, an ally, will relate to this theme as old as Time.
Testament to Forman’s directing that with all the lavish and complex set pieces, the make-up, flamboyant costumes and wiggery-pokery, the epic operas and ensemble casts, he never lost sight of the nuance, the unspoken but powerful subtext at play throughout.
Originally a play put on by the National Theatre, it starred the great Paul Scofield as Salieri (do watch, it’s only minutes, but he is a true Great), with Simon Callow as Mozart. Callow is also given a cameo in the movie version, although Forman made it clear he didn’t want any stage actors in his film version, Callow actually plays a stage actor in the movie.
Consummate directing from Forman, Epic doesn’t get a lot better.
Anatomy of a Flop 037
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