Amadeus

IMDB
First time viewed: No
Current Release: No
Watched With: Myself

This is not a good film to watch while you are orchestrating. Firstly because it shows you how inadequate you are compared to the greats and secondly because it's so damn engrossing you loose track of your work.

Even with the commentary track on I kept getting caught up in the film. Listening to Milos Forman and Peter Shaffer talk is bloody hilarious. The two couldn't be more odd couple and I highly recommend the experience to anyone. Yet somehow they came together and made a brilliant piece of cinema.

The sets and locations and costumes are all exquisite. What remains of Shaffer's script (he's obviously never come to terms with how his plays have to be gutted to end up on screen hahaha) is great of course and the actors are wonderful. I think there is some unconventional casting in this that works wonders. I especially like Jeffry Jones as the German Emperor.

Much like the Social Network, this film does an exceptional job of making something that by all accounts should probably be uncinematic and makes it engrossing and energetic. Writing music is a strange process and hard to explain to someone who doesn't understand anything about it. But when you watch this film you can really get caught up with the characters passion and love for it that it's infectious. I've never seen the play but I can't imagine having to watch this without being able to hear the various pieces of music and parts they underscore the scenes with as they talk about and write them.

It can't hurt that they can use Mozart's music to do this. I don't go for that period much but you can't deny the man knew how to write a good tune. The editing from flashback to future with the connective music playing through out is a true feat. It blows me away every time.

It was great to see this again. I can't remember If I have seen the directors cut before or not but I don't recall anything that I hadn't seen before. Looks great in HD.