Amadeus

When 'Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart' (qv) is conducting The Marriage of Figaro, the Emperor can be seen yawning in the background.

He is shown yawning about two minutes later, and 'Antonio Salieri' (qv) specifically states that the Emperor only yawned once during the performance.

The dancers in the opera/ballet scene are wearing costumes with zippers clearly visible.

During comic opera, there is a crew member visible when the last of the small horses pops through the side wall.

The person is wearing light colored modern day pants and is standing behind the paper wall.

The candles that 'Antonio Salieri' (qv) holds when 'Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart' (qv) is laid on his deathbed are shorter than they are when he returns from the door a few moments later.

When 'Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart' (qv) is at the billiard table, the balls change position with each camera shot.

Towards the end when 'Antonio Salieri' (qv) is speaking with Constanza, his hair frequently swaps from hanging back to over his shoulder and back again.

In the scene where 'Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart' (qv) goes into the bedroom late at night to check on his son (and Stanzi awakens and looks at him), the candles on the candelabrum that he's holding are shorter before he goes into the bedroom than when he's in the room.

Schikaneder has 'Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart' (qv) play the party theme in the style of 'Johann Sebastian Bach' (qv), which the Viennese party crowd clearly recognizes.

Although the historical Mozart knew of Bach's work through his friendship with the composer's son, Bach's name and music would have been wholly unknown in the Vienna of the 1780s.

Bach was re-discovered only when 'Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy' (qv) promoted and popularized his work, nearly forty years after Mozart's death.

At the first meeting of 'Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart' (qv), Emperor Jozef II finishes playing the march for Mozart and as he stands, he picks up the parchment from the piano.

As Mozart kneels to kiss the Emperor's hand, the parchment is still held by the Emperor.

When Mozart stands, the parchment is back on the piano, remaining there until the Emperor turns and steps back to pick it up.

When Stanze and Schikaneder argue about when 'Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart' (qv) will be paid to write an opera for Schikaneder, the position of Mozart's arm around Stanze changes from shot to shot.

Jozef II's title was Holy Roman Emperor, not Emperor of Austria as 'Antonio Salieri' (qv) states.

The empire of Austria was proclaimed in 1804, but the Habsburgs were often called Austrian Emperor before this year.

In the scene near the end when the bed-ridden 'Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart' (qv) is dictating a movement of his Requiem to 'Antonio Salieri' (qv), he tells him to write the bass instruments' notes as the "tonic and dominant" pitches in the key of A minor.

But the notes that play, and the notes that actually appear in the score, are the tonic and subdominant.

During "The Abduction from the Seraglio" performance, we see Kappelmeister Bonno watching from the box seat with two ladies flanking him.

Milos Forman had the actors, including the extras in the adjacent box seat, remain in their positions to film a brief shot for a scene later in the movie (during "The Marriage of Figaro" opera, where we see Kappelmeister Bonno tapping his nose and smiling because the Emperor yawned).

The result of this economical use of equipment and actors is that Kappelmeister Bonno, flanking ladies and extras all appear to have attended both operas sitting in the same seats and wearing the exact same clothing, wigs, jewelery and makeup.

This film is not a biopic.

It is a work of historical fiction.

Many of the events shown did not occur exactly as portrayed in the film, or happened at different times.

Some did not take place at all and are included purely for dramatic purposes.

When the confessor is waiting to enter Salieri's door from the hallway of the asylum, there is a woman sitting with her back to him (and the camera) talking to a patient.

She is wearing a red business suit jacket with obvious, 80's style, shoulder pads.

When Mozart performs in the orchestra for "The Magic Flute" he is shown playing the bell solo on a celesta.

This instrument was not invented until 1886.

The part should have been performed on a glockenspiel.

Severals scenes show the use of stage smoke, which looks like it was created with dry ice.

While dry ice was not achieved until decades after Mozart died, stage smoke through other means is recorded to have been used for instance on the Globe Theater as early as in the 16th century.

We might assume that the production crew used dry ice to portray the smoke to not foul up the sets with noxious smells from "genuine" 18th century stage smoke.

Powder on Mozart's forehead when trying on wigs before the first meeting with the emperor.

Mozart was left handed, not right as portrayed by Tom Hulce, most noticeable when he's at the billiard table composing.

At the beginning of the film, while talking to a priest Salieri is seen playing what looks like a harpsichord, yet the sound produced is of a piano.

This is not a goof.

The instrument played by Salieri at the beginning of the film is actually a fortepiano, not a harpsichord.

This is also the instrument played by both the emperor and Mozart at their first meeting.

The fortepiano bridged the gap between the harpsichord of the 18th century and the modern grand piano of the late 19th century.

At the end of the funeral procession, Katerina Cavalieri lowers and closes her umbrella, as a steady rain continues.

In a scene in the emperor's palace, Emperor Josef is sitting and talking to Mozart.

Behind the emperor is a servant holding a small, silver pitcher.

The servant is holding this pitcher slightly above his own navel.

A moment later, the pitcher is being held considerably lower by the servant and his pinky finger is now extended.

[Director's Cut] When Mozart asks Salieri for a loan, the cup jumps from Mozart's hand to the table.

Amadeus is a biographical film told from a very unique perspective.It is the life of Mozart as told from the perspective of a very perplexed rival.

Almost 10 years after Cuckoo's Nest, Milos Forman takes us on another travel down the abyss of the human psyche.In the center of it all: Antonio Salieri.

Tom Hulce memorably portrays brilliant composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart(said to have perfect pitch) a deeply gifted musician with one big drawback: he is also a vulgar buffoon, with no real appreciation of his talents.F.

There's not much out there better than this, so get some popcorn and a blanket and watch it.

Peter Shaffer's masterpiece projected on film in the best way possible by the extremely talented director Milos Forman. I've never felt like this for any movie before.

The oldest known play in the history of drama is "The Persians" by Aeschylus. He wants to celebrate the Greek victory in the persian wars and in order to make his point more effective instead of writing about his victorious countrymen he writes about the defeated side.

It is a good film but historically incorrect, and for a film based on historical characters this does not allow to reach sufficiency, in my opinion.

It was real sad story. I couldn't stand it.