Amadaus

Amadaus is a biographacal film as seen through the eyes of rival court composer Antonio Salieri on the eve of Salieri's suicide. He is at once fiercely jealous of and totally awestruck by the young Mozart, whose genius as a composer undeniably exceeds that of any other writer Salieri has heard -- including himself. Salieri's unbridled jealousy of Mozart's soaring reputation, even as his own wanes, leads him to try to drive Mozart to his …

…than justify the critical acclaim that helped the picture snag eight Academy Awards, including Best Picture. A visually sumptuous production shot in Prague and expensively mounted with meticulous attention to period detail, Amadeus is a real treat for the eyes, and, of course, the music is celestial. Best of all, though, is the way director Milos Forman turns Shaffer's literate, incisive script into a film bursting with raucous energy. Classical music was never less stodgy.