Amadeus (1984) (2nd time)

The incredible story of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, told in flashback mode by Antonio Salieri - now confined to an insane asylum. [imdb]

Nominated for 11 Oscars:

Best Picture (WINNER)
Best Director: Milos Forman (WINNER)
Best Actor: F. Murray Abraham (WINNER)
Best Actor: Tom Hulce
Best Adapted Screenplay (WINNER)
Best Cinematography
Best Art Direction (WINNER)
Best Costume Design (WINNER)
Best Editing
Best Sound (WINNER)
Best Makeup (WINNER)

You can tell right from the beginning this is a big, important film. It's a great story told in an interesting manner and it keeps you connected. The music of course is overwhelming, but in a good way. Mozart sounds miraculous and you get to hear lots of his pieces. Of course, this is not a true story, but it contains a lot of real stuff and as it's told through the perspective of one man: subjectiveness should be allowed.

The film has what I would call a classical direction: clean storytelling & direction, but done very well and which gives an intelligent feeling to the film. It looks serious and it's impecable from a technical point of view; I was especially impressed by the costume design, there's a mourning/funeral dress at the end that blew me away. The actors are all great and it's very difficult for me to choose between Abraham (Salieri) and Tom Hulce (Mozart); they are both leading men, very different roles, but excellent both of them. I can easily say the film also deserved its other wins, including Picture, Director & Screenplay. It really is a grandiose film.

My rating for the film: 9/10. It's more of a 8.5, but what the hell; this is my genre.