Music On Film: Amadeus

• 28th Apr 2011

I remember first seeing Amadeus in school. It wasn’t my choice to watch it and nor was it for pleasure as had been the case before… this was serious. This was education and my love of film coming together for the first time. Film was my main hobby and diversion in life so to have school imposing it on me seemed very suspect. And Amadeus’ opening – a man slitting his own throat – wasn’t quite what I wanted. But as the film went on, my enthusiasm for it grew. By the end I was pleased and would go back to it in the years to follow, glad that I had it forced on me. This book covers all bases from pre-production through to release. There’s a nice early section on the composers Mozart and Salieri. This then leads onto a discussion about the play before we even get to the film. The film is split into a look at the director, the producer and the cast before getting to production. It’s interesting to note that Meg Tilly was originally cast in the film as Mozart’s wife before having to be replaced by (the now forgotten) Elizabeth Berridge due to an injury.

After a conclusion the book delivers the full credits as well as a soundtrack listing which is handy for music enthusiasts. In whole, this book works nicely as a companion.

Steven Hurst