Amadeus (1984)
Where to Watch
- Before F. Murray Abraham was cast, several major A-list stars turned down the lead role because they felt the script was too risky.
- During the filming of Amadeus, F. Murray Abraham improvised one of the most famous lines in the movie.
- The incredible score for Amadeus was composed in just a few weeks after the original composer dropped out.
Amadeus is a 1984 American biographical drama directed by Milos Forman, based on Peter Shaffer's 1979 stage play. F. Murray Abraham delivers an Academy Award-winning performance as Antonio Salieri, the court composer to Emperor Joseph II of Austria who was a devout, hardworking musician whose mediocrity is exposed by the arrival of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, played by Tom Hulce, a vulgar, giggling man-child whose effortless genius produces the most sublime music Salieri has ever heard.
The film is structured as Salieri's confession to a priest from an insane asylum in 1823, recounting how his consuming jealousy of Mozart β and his rage at God for blessing an unworthy vessel with divine talent while denying Salieri's pious prayers for greatness β drove him to orchestrate Mozart's destruction. Amadeus won eight Academy Awards including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Actor for Abraham, and its depiction of the creative process, the cruelty of talent's unequal distribution, and the tragedy of recognizing greatness you can never achieve has resonated with artists across all disciplines. Amadeus earned $90 million worldwide on a $18 million budget.
