 A DVD Review of...     Images (C) Warner Bros. | |||
Genre: Drama Cast: F. Murray Abraham, Tom Hulce, Elizabeth Barridge, Simon Callow, Roy Dotrice, Jeffrey Jones Synopsis: Based on the award-winning play by Peter Shaffer, this is a newly restored and 20-minute extended cut of Milos Forman's 1984 film adaptation of "Amadeus" which won eight Academy Awards including Best Picture. In a lavish 18th Century parlor in Austria, an elderly man is found, by his servant, with his throat slashed. The wound is self-inflicted, and the man is the little-known composer Salieri (Abraham), contemporary and adversary of the now-famed, but once reviled, composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (Hulce). Later. from his cell in an insane asylum, Salieri tells a priest (Meckler) the story of his association with Mozart, confessing that he actually killed the brilliantly gifted but troubled young man. Salieri was the celebrated court composer to Joseph II (Jones)--his confidence and religious dedication shaken when he meets the boorish 26-year-old Mozart as he chases his future wife (Berridge) around a party while making obscene remarks. Furious that this clownish boy can produce such beautiful music, Salieri determines to keep Mozart's talent from lasting recognition and sets himself on a course for Mozart’s destruction that leads to his own as well. Mozart continues to mount beautiful, moving operas (incredibly staged in the film), but becomes obsessed with writing a Requiem as his friends, family, health, and resources waste away, Salieri’s manipulating presence always there. Film Review: When a film wins the 'Best Film' Oscar, more often than you might expect its been a bad choice. Some of the winners are good if not great films, but certainly not movies you'd call "the best of the year". Is "Kramer vs. Kramer" better than "Apocalypse Now"?, "The Sting" better than "The Exorcist"?, "Driving Miss Daisy" better than "Dead Poets Society"?, "Gladiator" better than "Traffic"?, the debate could be endless. However every now and then comes one year when there's a clear winner above all others - when the critical, box-office and public reaction all align so perfectly that the nominations are a formality. "Lawrence of Arabia", "The Godfather" and "Silence of the Lambs" are well known examples of films which stood out amongst a crowd of great movies and both easily and more important - deservedly took the gong. In 1984, despite such great films as "The Killing Fields" and "The Terminator", there was one movie which stood out as a masterpiece and swept up eight Oscars including four of the 'major five' (film, actor, directing, script). That film was "Amadeus". Truly one of the most superbly crafted films ever, Milos Forman gave us a biographical story like no other. Instead of following the crowd with the whitewashed simple 'following his life and difficulties' style of filmmaking used even today in such flicks as "A Beautiful Mind", Forman took a bold step. The title may be Mozart's middle name and he figures prominently in the film sure, but our protagonist is failed composer and rival Salieri. This is the perfect tale of a man who struggled and achieved a nice level of success on sheer hard work, only to become thoroughly consumed by envy and jealousy of the success of Mozart - a partying buffoon but one blessed with a true gift of musical talent which Salieri can not only see (whereas others of this time can not) but realises he can never hope to match it no matter how much effort he puts in. As a result, he goes about setting the downfall of this man whose work tortures and inspires with equal share. F. Murray Abraham perfectly brings to life with an extremely nuanced performance the role of Salieri, a tough order considering the lead character is not only the villain of the piece but not a particularly nice guy. You may not like the character but you understand his motivations and Abraham perfectly internalises all sorts of mixed emotions of anger, rage, fury, false charm and more through some of the best physical acting and delivery you'll ever see. The use of his voiceover as he recounts the story as an elderly man in an insane asylum works wonders too as it doesn't ramble on with tired exposition but rather voices the character's emotional thoughts and desires at any one time - it works with rather than against the action on screen to help make each sequence that much more richer than a story simply set in the one place and time. In fact casting wise there's some superb choices here - Hulce gives it his all as the naughty playboy like composer with his hyena-like laugh, crude manner and childish temperament but its the quieter more serious moments such as the great sequence towards the end where he and Salieri are penning the Requiem together that really allow him to shine. Jeffrey Jones shows off and combines both the artistocratic seriousness of his position with a hint of cynical rebeliousness. Berridge is probably the weakest link as Constanze, yet considering her then young age and lack of preparation for the role she has that practical sense and unpredictability the character requires. Production values are exquisite. The use of the Czech Repulic in a time before it became a tourist haven still gives the production a far richer feel than many films shot there today. Costumes, wigs, sets, theatre pieces, makeup, etc. never fail to delight at every turn and its the small imaginative things from the use of colour to the ornate costumes at a fancy dress ball that make some scenes just that much more luxurious. The music, oh the music is just divine. Many a time there's sequences in this in which the characters are audibly describing the music and its emotional reaction to them that really just sucks you right in and almost brings you to tears yourself. At three hours this is not a short film and yet there's practically no slow or dull patches at all, even as things turn somewhat more darker and drawn out towards the end. Honestly though for me practically every shot is like a rich oil painting. I saw this as a child many years ago and was enraptured with it, as an adult I've grown to appreciate it even more. Forman's masterpiece is truly deserving of such a title. This is one of the reasons that cinema was invented for, not just for entertainment but for art as well. Excellent in every way. - Garth Franklin 
DVD Review: After a lacklustre release years ago of the theatrical version, Warners has made some big improvements with this Director's Cut edition. The film transfer is solid if unremarkable - detail is excellent, shadows are well displayed, and colours are vibrant without being garish (a tall measure considering some of these costumes). There are on occasion times when quite frankly there's so much detail on screen the disc looks like it wasn't able to cope with all the data and so doesn't render it as well as it should (in fact one or two moments seem to pause oddly). Audio is very good - dialogue is clear throughout, sound FX are nicely integrated and the remixed audio music track is a wonder (though a little loud). Sadly only two extras are here but they're great ones nonetheless. The commentary by Forman and Shaffer is quite interesting over the course of the three hour runtime with both dropping in talk of story differences in early drafts of the play, and on-set anecdotes. Shaffer's gentile and refined manner works well off Forman's cruder and more abrupt statements. Even better though is a very comprehensive and interesting retrospective documentary. Running at an hour's length, its filled with all the major cast and crew talking about their experience working on the movie from casting through to filming. A good majority of the dialogue though is focused on the filming in the then Soviet-controlled Prague - both the difficulties and tales from that are reaccounted including a hilarious story about Abraham's friend trashing a hotel room. It doesn't hesitate to discuss some of the difficulties including Elizabeth Berridge's casting after Meg Tilly dropped out, to the antagonism between Abraham and Hulce (who looks SO different now its startling). Combined with it all is some great on-set behind-the-scenes video (in so-so quality though) of various things including one actor catching fire in a wooden opera house. Capping off the set are some filmographies, and the still quite effective trailer based on "scandal and whisper". I was hoping for more extras considering the film's importance, but what's here is still excellent and as its such a great film its definitely a must have. - Garth Franklin  . |
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