Amadeus (1984)

★ 8.0 2h 40m 4,711 votes IMDb
Sign in to rate this film

Disciplined Italian composer Antonio Salieri becomes consumed by jealousy and resentment towards the hedonistic and remarkably talented young Salzburger composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

Amadeus

Where to Watch

Netflix Netflix Watch
Amazon Prime Video Amazon Prime Video Watch
Disney Plus Disney Plus Watch
Max Max Watch
Hulu Hulu Watch
Paramount Plus Paramount Plus Watch
Apple TV Plus Apple TV Plus Watch
Peacock Peacock Watch
Crunchyroll Crunchyroll Watch
Tubi TV Tubi TV Watch
Pluto TV Pluto TV Watch
Plex Plex Watch

Rent / Buy

Rent

Apple TV Apple TV Rent
Google Play Movies Google Play Movies Rent
Amazon Video Amazon Video Rent
YouTube YouTube Rent
Vudu Vudu Rent
Fandango at Home Fandango at Home Rent

Buy

Apple TV Apple TV Buy
Google Play Movies Google Play Movies Buy
Amazon Video Amazon Video Buy
YouTube YouTube Buy
Vudu Vudu Buy
Fandango at Home Fandango at Home Buy

Cast

F. Murray Abraham
F. Murray Abraham as Antonio Salieri Age 86 · Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA F. Murray Abraham (born Murray Abraham; October 24, 1939) is an American actor. Known for his roles on stage and screen, he has received an Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award as well as nomination...
Tom Hulce
Tom Hulce as Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Age 72 · Detroit, Michigan, USA Thomas Edward Hulce (born December 6, 1953) is an American actor and theater producer. He is best known for his portrayal of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in the Academy Award-winning film Amadeus (1984), a...
Elizabeth Berridge
Elizabeth Berridge as Constanze Mozart Age 63 · New Rochelle, New York, USA Elizabeth Berridge (born May 2, 1962) is an American film and theatre actress. She is best-known for playing Constanze Mozart in the Academy Award winning 1984 film Amadeus. Berridge was born in New...
Simon Callow
Simon Callow as Emanuel Schikaneder Age 76 · Streatham, London, England, UK Simon Phillip Hugh Callow CBE (born 15 June 1949) is an English actor. Known as a character actor on stage and screen, he has received numerous accolades including an Olivier Award and Screen Actors G...
Roy Dotrice
Roy Dotrice as Leopold Mozart Died 2017 · Guernsey, Channel Islands, UK Roy Dotrice (May 26, 1923 - October 16, 2017) was a British radio, stage, and screen actor. On stage, he won acclaim for his Tony Award-winning Broadway performance in the revival of A Moon for the Mi...
Christine Ebersole
Christine Ebersole as Katerina Cavalieri Age 73 · Chicago, Illinois, USA Christine Ebersole (born February 21, 1953) is an American actress and singer. She has appeared in film, television, and on stage. She starred in the Broadway musicals 42nd Street and Grey Gardens, wi...

Audience Reviews

Wuchak 8/10 Dec 20, 2020
_**Lively costume biography about Mozart’s last nine years in Austria**_

Antonio Salieri (F. Murray Abraham) is a competent but mediocre composer in Vienna, Austria, in the late 1700s. He recognizes the God-given genius of the younger Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (Tom Hulce) and struggles with bitter envy. The story is told in flashback as Salieri shares it with a cleric decades later at an asylum.

“Amadeus” (1984) is an entertaining costume drama that successfully takes you back to Vienna from 1783-1791. Mozart was basically the rock star of the era and some of his dynamic music even evokes certain modern rock styles. Giving the main characters personality helps bring the events alive and the flashback structure makes for compelling storytelling.

On the feminine front, Elizabeth Berridge plays Amadeus’ cute & feisty wife, Constanze, while Christine Ebersole is on hand as a ravishing opera singer, sorta reminiscent of Tina Root of Switchblade Symphony (albeit taller).

The original Broadway play concentrated on character motivation with music in the background while the movie focuses a little too much on it. Unless you’re an opera aficionado, the extensive scenes of Mozart's and Salieri's operas being performed become tiresome after a while and unnecessarily bloat the film, somewhat muting the story. When the Emperor yawns during a performance of “Figaro” I could relate because a lot of opera music sounds the same to me.

Nonetheless, this is an informative and amusing biography of Wolfgang’s last nine years; very well done.

The movie runs 2 hours, 40 minutes and was shot mostly in the Czech Republic.

GRADE: B+/A-
CinemaSerf 8/10 Jan 07, 2023
Rarely can I think of a more worthy multi-award winning performance than that from F. Murray Abraham in this masterfully crafted - if entirely speculative - retrospective on the life and times of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (portrayed here by the astonishingly effective Tom Hulce). Abraham portrays the duplicitous, envious and malevolent Antonio Salieri, the court composer to Emperor Joseph II of Austria (Jeffery Jones). He is talented, up to point, and settled in his politically influential and wealthy role, but growing up, he has always been aware of this other young boy who can play, perfectly, composing as he goes. Initially in awe of this man's predigious talent, it isn't long before the green eyed monster starts to rear it's ugly head, and jealousy soon starts to drive his every waking moment. Meantime, the young maestro is attracting more and more attention, acclaim and is soon rivalling Salieri for the attentions of the Emperor himself. At this stage, Salieri must act. How? Well fortunately he is ably assisted by Mozart's own self-destructive character. As a child, compared to a performing monkey, he always had issues with his father (Roy Dotrice) and even when married to Stanzi (Elizabeth Berridge) with his own child, we feel that he is always in search of adulation, appreciation and love whilst treading a very fine line between despair and a chronic fear of poverty and failure - one which leads him to an increasingly addictive existence. What is also striking here, is the extent to which Mozart's music has become pervasive in not just cinema history, but in our broader environment too. I found myself familiar - to varying degrees - with much of the superbly delivered soundtrack. It's all told via a rather apposite "confession" between Salieri and a priest who, as the story develops, struggles with his own faith and his belief that all sins can be forgiven. Perhaps some can't? The attention to detail here is fantastic: the sets, costumes and the location photography contribute hugely to the wonderfully rich look and feel of a film that just oozes style and confidence. Hulce's portrayal of the creative virtuoso as he descends into a maelstrom of misery is thoroughly convincing, and by the end - historical fact being adhered to, at least in this - I felt emotionally drained by the strength of these two tours de forces. A big screen with big sound is a must here, and I think you will find the three hours that this lasts will just fly by.

Similar Movies