Robert Peters defends Amadeus:

>>It's such a mystery, not Mozart's death, but how two such European
>>artists as Forman and the playwright Peter Shaffer could produce this
>>convoluted, contrived, overblown Hollywood "spectacle."
>
>I couldn't disagree more.  "Amadeus" is, in my view, one of the most
>intelligent movies made in the last decades, a clever, profound, moving
>essay on mediocrity, vanity, passion.

Well, you're certainly entitled to your opinion.  Janos's "overblown" comes
closer to mine, except I'm not nearly so kind.

>It is NOT a movie about Mozart, this is a common mistake - it is about a
>fantasy Mozart and a fantasy Salieri, it is about the tragical relationship
>between two artists who destroy each other instead of communicating.

Actually, it's a play that purports to tell you something about the
nature of genius vs.  talent.  Of course, it does nothing of the sort.
It cops out along the way and winds up with "it's a mystery." This wouldn't
be quite so bad if Shaffer had thrown the audience some sort of a bone
before he announced there was no meat.  As it stands, the play is a
blood-and-thunder "melodrammer" made tonier and More Important because
one of the characters is named Mozart.  It is also pretty short on ideas,
especially ideas that haven't been recycled to far better use.

Steve Schwartz