Amadeus

When I think about Amadeus two things come to mind. First is the song Rock me Amadeus by Falco the second is the annoying laugh from the movie. The movie is the third out of five movies that won best picture in the 80's based on a historic person. This is one of those movies that I had seen once before but didn't remember that well(besides the laugh). But watching it again I realized that this is a really good movie.

Amadeus is about the life of Mozart and his rival Antonio Salieri. The movie is told in flash back by an elderly Salieri(F. Murray Abraham) who is in a mental institute after trying to kill himself. He begins telling his story about how he first met Mozart(Tom Hulce)and became intensely jealous of Mozart's natural talent. A court composer Salieri worked for Emperor Joseph II and made recommendations to the Emperor. Mozart instantly impresses everyone with his talent. Salieri who has made a promise to God to devote his life and work to him see the very vulgar Mozart as a mockery of his God given talent. Salieri couldn't understand how God could give such a gift to someone who had very little respect for anything. Salieri eventually turns his back on God and makes it his life purpose to destroy Mozart. Because of his influence on the Emperor Salieri is able to make it very difficult for Mozart to get any work. He tells everyone that Mozart like young girls so no one will hire him to tutor, and all of his opera have short runs due to Salieri's suggestions. He does this even though he recognizes the immense talent that Mozart has. Mozart does not realize that Salieri is the one blocking his rise and Mozart lives in poverty and becomes an alcoholic. Eventually Salieri decides that he will have Mozart write one last piece then kill Mozart and claim the last piece as his own. While the plan doesn't work out exactly as planned but when Mozart ends up dying penniless Salieri feel guilty which leads him trying to kill himself.

For a three hour movie the pace is fast and at the end it doesn't feel like it was three hours. The acting is great. Hard to believe that a guy from Animal House would be nominated for an Academy Award but that's what Tom Hulce did. He portrays Mozart as a complicated man with both whimsy and desperation. He lost Best Actor to F. Murray Abraham who was amazing as the insanely jealous and calculating Salieri. Also good in the movie was Jeffery Jones and I think he should have been nominated for Best Supporting Actor. In total Amadeus won 8 Academy Awards besides Picture and Actor it also won Best Director(Milos Forman),Best Screenplay Adaptation (Peter Shaffer for the adaption of his own Broadway play), Best Art/Set Direction, Best Sound, Best Costume Design, and Best Makeup. It also marked the fourth time that a movie that won a Tony Award for Best Play also won Best Picture at the Academy Awards(the other three are from the 60's and are My Fair Lady, The Sound of Music, and A Man for All Seasons).

The only other movie I have seen that was nominated in 1984 was the equally good The Killing Fields. That movie about a New York Times journalist covering the fall of Cambodia in 1975. Haing Ngor won Best Supporting Actor for the role of the assistant to the journalist. Haing Ngor was not an actual Cambodian doctor and not a professional actor. He became the second no professional actor to win the awards(Harold Russell was the first for The Best Years of Our Lives in 1946). Also, after watching Sam Waterston on Law and Order for so many years it is weird to see him in anything else but he was nominated for Best Actor for this movie also.

Other notable Oscar Nominations. Sally Field won Best Actress for her role in Places in the Heart and gave her famous "You really like me" speech. Also nominated for Best Supporting Actor was Pat Morita as Mr. Miyagi in The Karate Kid. All of the nominations for Best Song were very popular songs on the radio including Ghostbusters, Footloose, and the eventual winner I just Called to Say I Love You by Stevie Wonder from the movie The Woman in Red. And John Williams was nominated against himself for Best Original Score for the movies Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom and The River. He lost to Maurice Jarre for A Passage to India. Greystroke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes was nominated for Best Screenplay and P.H Vazak was listed as one of the screenwriters. P.H Vasak was the name of a sheepdog owned by writer Robert Towne who didn't want to be associated with the movie.