Review of Amadeus (1984) by Cameron J — 23 Jul 2012

"Amadeus, Amadeus, oh, oh, oh Amadeus!" Der mensch, das ist gesang so lahm, aber der refrain ist in ordnung-I mean, man, that song is so lame, but at least the chorus is alright. Sorry, but I was speaking German when refering to that song because I was so grateful to hear one comprehensible word other than, "rock", "me" and, "Amadeus" through all of Falco's grunting in that song that I started speaking the language out of appreciation. Yeah, maybe Austrians and Germans should keep their distance from the pop industry and head back to the piano, because they make for some awesome composers, as Hans Zimmer is proving to this day. Actually, considering how German Han Zimmer's and most every other great German composers' names are, maybe the secret to being a great German score composer is having as German of a name as you can get, which would explain why Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was so good, because he was an Adolf or a Heinrich or a, well, Hans away from being able to play the piano just by looking at it. Man, looking at their orchestral compositions and taste in names, outside of the pop music and, well, that little situation in the '30s and '40s, the Germans are pretty awesome, and some of their figures certainly make for subject matter for a good film. Still, as good as this film is, Milo Forman's cinematic composition isn't entirely awesome, and for quite a few reasons.

The film's central story is told in flashback structure, framed by an old Antonio Salieri's reminiscence to a priest, and let me tell you, while the film hits deeper spots, the central story, on certain occasions, very much has that "storytelling" type of storytelling, giving us not much more depth into the story than what some bum is talking about, and that's definately not a whole lot of depth. Of course, even when the film is more focused and less like a flashback, it's still a tad short on depth, simply because its director is Milo Forman, whose biopics aren't especially fluid in their progression, often going tainted by a kind of "And then..." type storytelling that bunches events too closely next to each other and doesn't leave enough room for exposition, a problem that is, of course, here once again. Okay, maybe exposition isn't that profoundly lacking, or even all that limited, yet exposition lapses in certain crucial spots that would have given us more of a chance to lock into the story and its character, thus diluting compellingness and, of course, making the film's bloating a little bit less tolerable. At well over two-and-a-half hours, or in the case of the director's cut, at three hours, the film has enough time to really unravel the story comfortably, yet doesn't entirely, instead choosing to bloat things with some redundancy, a bit of repetition and, of course, a lot of considerably overlong dialogue pieces. Because of this excessive bloating, the film's slowness is brought more to attention, for although the film is rarely all that terribly boring, it does limp along in certain spots, with little juice and little engagement value, and what genuinely dull moments there are really do deliver on the dull. The film is an overlong string of events with not enough depth for it to strike a chord all that sharply, and what it ultimately amounts to is, well, just kind of bland to some extent. However, that extent does not fully pierce the film and render it underwhelming, for although there's much to be desired in this bloated mess, the final composition is still very much an impressive one that rewards as a drama, and with its putting production money to good use, certainly as a period piece.

The production designs are remarkable, with sets, costumes and makeup that fit this era like a glove and really bring it to life, though not to the point of bearing down on you and leaving you to forget the substance within the story that the production designs bring to life. Still, where aspects like the production designs are pulled back enough to not affect the film's substance considerably, it's something like the film's soundtrack that actually supplements the substance, for although the film's soundtrack is rather underused, when it does arise, it is played with in a fairly clever way - especially by Michael Chandler's fine editing, which really plays up the soundtrack in the context of the film - that not only fits the setting, as well, but throws in an additional kick to the substance, making it all that more compelling, and it's fairly compelling to begin with. Milo Forman's direction is quite certainly flawed, yet still inspired, and more often than not, that inspiration takes this film a very long way, as it breathes intrigue into this worthy story, as well as charisma and livliness that may not drown out the slowness, but gives this film enough entertainment value to sustain your attention, while a degree of effective dramatic depth sustains your investment, especially during a few spots in the latter part of the film, when things really do pick up here and there. Forman crafts no masterpiece, and that's largely his own doing as a flawed director, yet it's palpable that he has his heart in the project, and that carries it through thick and thin, though not alone, as the performances are also commendable, rather underwritten though, they may be. For getting such high billing and being the film's viewpoint, Antonio Salieri feels a touch underused in some spots, yet F. Murray Abraham makes every scene with him count, by capturing a fictionalized Salieri's ambitious spirit and faith, tainted by envy and frustation, with subtle depth and compelling layers that drive into the essence of this fictionalized version of the legendary composer, as well as into the film's central point. As for the titular legend in musical composition, he is fictitiously presented as a corrupt underdog, with obnoxious spoilings and intentions both crude and a tad cruel, thus making for an interpretation of Mozart that could have been disastrous in execution, yet goes sold by Tom Hulce, who charmingly captures the also fairly intense ambitious spirit of this film's Mozart with certain layers for you to buy into him as both a compelling focus, especially during the latter parts of the film, at which point, Hulce delivers on some strong intensity in his performance. The film isn't a terribly glorious production, taking its sweet time to go few places, yet with it being so engagingly finely produced, competently acted and generally well-directed, once you get used to everything, it's difficult to leave the film, as it is a worthy story told well enough to make for a worthwhile effort.

To conclude this composition, the film is bloated considerably, with repetition, superfluous material and dragging making worse the sting of the depth limiting, spawned from not enough meditation upon the hardly steady storytelling, which still is not blunt enough for slowness to dissipate, thus making for a final composition that hits more than a few faulty notes, but ultimately sustains your attention more often than not, partially due to the fine production designs and clever usage of the strong soundtrack, and largely due to the story's strength and being brought to life by Milo Forman's flawed but generally charming and inspired direction, as well as by a duo of particularly charismatic performances by F. Murray Abraham and Tom Hulce, both of whom help in ultimately making "Amadeus" to stand as a mostly entertaining, reasonably compelling and generally worthwhile fictitious account of the lives and relationship of Mozart and Salieri, even if it isn't the masterpiece many tout it to be.

3/5 - Good.