Amadeus
Short description
Amadeus centres on Antonio Salieri, a respected court composer in Vienna under Emperor Joseph II, whose orderly life and devout sense of purpose are unsettled by the arrival of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Salieri recognises in the younger man a musical gift far beyond his own, and the contrast between Mozart's casual brilliance and his own diligent craft turns admiration into jealousy and a determination to bring his rival down. Years later, in 1823, Salieri looks back on that rivalry and confesses what it drove him to.
Miloš Forman directed the film, which Peter Shaffer adapted from his own play. It sits between Ragtime and Valmont in Forman's filmography and was produced by Saul Zaentz. F. Murray Abraham plays Salieri and Tom Hulce plays Mozart, with Elizabeth Berridge as Constanze Mozart and Simon Callow, Roy Dotrice and Christine Ebersole among a large credited cast.
Made for about 18 million US dollars, the film took roughly 52 million worldwide. On IMDb it holds 8.4 out of 10 from some 466,000 votes, and on TMDB 8 out of 10 from about 4,900 votes. A critics' rating of 9.1 out of 10 from 160 reviews places it above both audience scores.
What's left behind the scenes
- In the film, Salieri takes a vow of celibacy, while in reality, he was married to Therese von Helfertstorfer, the daughter of a retired official. Therese bore Salieri seven daughters and one son.
- The 1985 Academy Awards ceremony took place in Los Angeles on March 25th. In the finale, elderly Laurence Olivier took the stage to present the award for Best Picture. He was so excited that instead of announcing the nominees, he simply read: “It’s ‘Amadeus’.” An Academy official went on stage to check if Olivier had made a mistake, and after confirming that everything was in order, signaled accordingly.
- F. Murray Abraham (Salieri) appears significantly older than Tom Hulce (Mozart); the actors' age difference is 14 years. In reality, Salieri was less than 6 years older than Mozart.
- In one scene of the film, Mozart calls Christoph Willibald Gluck “boring” and says, “I don’t like him” about Handel. In reality, both Gluck and Handel were among Mozart’s favorite composers.
- The play on which the film is based was first performed on November 2, 1979, on the stage of the National Theatre in London.
- Communist Prague, with its lack of modern TV antennas, plastic, and asphalt, proved to be an ideal substitute for filming Vienna.
- Mel Gibson auditioned for the role of Mozart.
- The director's cut of the film is 180 minutes long.
- Tom Hulce practiced playing the piano for four hours a day to appear convincing.
- The costumes and sets in the film's opera scenes were made according to sketches of real costumes and sets from the 18th century.
- In one scene, Mozart attends his first audience with Emperor Joseph II, who plays a march specially composed by Salieri. At the end of the scene, Mozart plays the same march and decides to “improve” it. The final version he plays is actually the motif of the famous aria “Farfallina” (“Non piu andrai”) from Mozart’s opera “The Marriage of Figaro”; the scene is pure fiction.
- The first movement of Mozart's Symphony No. 25 in G minor plays during the opening credits of the film.
- The entire film was shot using natural lighting.
- The concept of Mozart's irritating laughter came from letters of his contemporaries. One of them described his laughter as "contagious frivolity," while another compared it to the screech of metal on glass.
- The name Amadeus varied during Mozart's lifetime: Lat. Amadeus, Ger. Gottlieb, Ital. Amadeo, Gr. Theophilus, which means "beloved by God".
- The music in the film was recorded in advance and played in the background during filming.
- The Man in Black in the film orders a requiem from Mozart in winter. In actuality, it was the middle of summer.
- The opera “Don Giovanni” was filmed on the same stage where it premiered.
- The film shows one child, whereas the Mozarts actually had six children, but only two survived.
- The story told in the film is largely fictional. In reality, Salieri was much more popular than Mozart at the time and enjoyed well-deserved respect. Schubert, for example, even dedicated one of his works to him. And among the composer’s students were Beethoven and Liszt. But thanks to Pushkin, poor Salieri began to be perceived by the masses as a villain and an envious monster. It is worth noting that Salieri’s guilt was never proven, and the only evidence against him is his self-accusation made in old age during a state of mental disturbance. Miloš Forman takes this as his starting point.
- Only four sets were built for the filming: Salieri's chamber, Mozart's apartment, a staircase, and a vaudeville theater. Everything else was filmed on location.
- Tom Hulce was born on December 6th. His character Mozart died on December 5th.
Auditions in India
Casting calls in USA
Castingi w Polsce
Кастинги в Україні
