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MOVIESA long and loving Mozart mysteryBy Michael BurkettThe RegisterPeter Shaffer's 1979 stage play “Amadeus demonstrated that Broadway audiences aren’t solely interested in big, flashy American musicals, and one hopes that Milos Foreman’s film adaptation of same will similarly prove mass movie audiences want more than cinematic junk food.What Shaffer originally created for Britain's National Theatre — a large-scale, large-voiced treatment of large themes, cleverly disguised as a psyehodramatic, operatic vaudeville — is precisely what Shaffer and director Foreman (“One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest,” “Ragtime”) have restructured and brought to the screen, and it is as thoroughly entertaining as any of the year’s best commercial films.In fact, the virtues of “Amadeus” are so many, the achievements so splendid, that not much more is required of a reviewer than a listing of what is available for the price of admission. It is possible to pick at a detail here and there, to state an occasional textural exception, and to wonder if it could have been as good at 2 hours instead of 2 hours and 38 minutes. But since none but the last of these concerned me while I was watching the film (in retrospect, I’mThe Films ‘'Amadeus.Stares F. Murray Abraham, Tom Huice, Elizabeth Berridge, Simon Callow, Roy Dotrice, Christine Ebersole, Jeffrey Jones and Charles Kay.Behind the Scenes: Directed by Milos Foreman. Screenplay and original stage play by Peter Shaffer.Playing: Now showing at Edwards Newport Cinema, Newport Beach. 644-0760.Running Time: 2 hours, 38 minutes. Rated: PG.certain it could be better at 2 hours), I’m not even going to mention them. Not for a while, anyway.In “Equus,” the British playwright addressed the conflict in civilized society between passion and conformity. In “Amadeus,” he tackles a related theme: unruly genius vs. disciplined mediocrity. His play and screenplay are based on that most compelling legend of the 18th century, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, who may or may not have been done in at the age of 35 by his envious rival, Antonio Salieri.In Shaffer’s caustic scheme, Salieri (F. Murray Abraham), the successful court composer to the Austrian Emperor Joseph II, is devastated when the 26-year-old prodigy (Tom Hulce) arrives in Vienna. Hearing Mozart’s music, Salieri realizes that all his worldly success means nothingPlease see AMADEUS/E13
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Santa Ana Orange County Register
Santa Ana, California, US
Fri, Sep 21, 1984
Page 225
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USA 08 Jul 2022
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