How True is Amadeus? 

Fun fact, Mozart was a musician.

When Salieri said he killed Mozart, I never thought he meant in a literal way. but more in a way of composers like him hated, antagonized, and hated Mozart so much that it drove him to his death

Shakespeare plays about historical figures were inaccurate . but nobody complains about that.

Salieri was in fact a very good man who educated Mozart's children and helped his widow after his untimely death. Salieri was also a very talented composer although certainly not in the same league as Mozart. Salieri helped Beethoven during a a critical phase of his development giving him a solid musical education. The subject of a fantastic play which later became an Oscar worthy movie. Here's to Salieri, the greatest second rate composer who ever lived. Te Amamo Maestro!

I'm so glad that you did a video on Amadeus! It's one of my favorites as well. A truly authentic portrayal of Mozart. Great job :)

Mozart, the original rock star.

In an art history class I took in high school, my teacher put Amadeus on at the end of the year and a fellow student made all of the same complaints basically. The teacher basically gave the kid the same dressing down to the kid Critic gave to the smug guy. It was one of the most gratifying moments in my entire school career because that kid was basically the exact same character Doug portrayed. And man was she annoying.

I always thought Salieri had some similarities with Squidward.

The assumption that Mozart simply couldn't have been the childish party-animal he's portrayed as in the movie kind of reminds me of the Anti-Stratfordian theory - The idea that Shakespeare couldn't have been the true author of his plays because he wasn't a cultured aristocrat.

The entire plot of Amadeus is like a caricature of the actual events. Everything is so dramatic and emphasized, just like a lot of Mozart's music. It's really brilliant how they did that under the excuse of Salieri's mental issues. Bonus points for the infinite amount of dramatic quotes. "That was not Mozart laughing, Father... that was God."

I never looked at Amadeus as a “historical depiction.” I see it more as a retelling from the view point of a Salieri who had driven himself insane with guilt. The story obviously isn’t 100% true, but Salieri’s guilt and borderline insanity has altered his memory to what we see in the movie. To this day this is my favorite movie. Edit: Aaaaaaaand you just said everything I stated in my comment. I love you.

I’m a classical musician, and despite the historical inaccuracies, I love this film and consider it one of the greatest films ever.

Always fun to see Critic battle his dangerously fractured psyche. The voices won't ever stop, Critic. Trust me.

That's a genre, it's called "secret history", it's way popular here in Chile. The idea is to take what's historically known and expand upon what is unkown. Those details that tie the story together but nobody wrote because, technically, nobody saw them. So, literally speaking, anything could have happened. That's where the creative freedom comes and that's what people that like this genre want to see.

Maybe Salieri was not delusional, but knew that if he could take historical credit for Mozart's death, his fame would be directly tied to Mozart's fame. can you imagine what kind of legacy that would be?

As a total know-it-all, I really appreciate being put on the spot and educated by this video. Now, with my new gained pieces of knowledge, I can be _even more_ insufferable in the future. >:D

There's something oddly familiar about That guy with the glasses, something about that pipe, could it be? NAH he doesn't have a robe.

Fun Fact, Tom Hulce was in The Hunchback of Notre Dame

What's 100% true is that *AMADEUS* is a fucking incredible film. It is one of the greatest movies ever made.

It's funnier when people talk about how historically inaccurate films like Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter are.

Fun fact, the Emperor in this movie is the dean from Ferris Bueller's Day Off.

So the impression of this film is like how a RU-vidr makes only one 10 minute video so that's how long they spent making that video, and in no way did that 10 minute video take hours or even days to get onto the screen.

I love that this movie ages beautifully. I had no idea this movie was even made in the 80s until recently. And I don't believe it's just because it's a period piece, I think it's just that well made.

History Buffs compared Mozart to Michael Jackson. Both prodigies with overbearing fathers who pushed their music careers from a very young age, depriving them of their childhoods which led to them growing into man-childs.

Classically trained musician here; mom made me study Mozart's life before she let me watch the movie. Mom and I both still love the movie. Now if you want a _proper_ shit musician movie, it's called Immortal Beloved ;)

I'm a musician and history major and I don't give 2 f*cks if this is historically accurate or not. It's one of the best movies ever made.

I knew about Mozart long before I knew that this movie existed, and I looked up a lot on him. From what I've read, a lot of Mozart's personality quirks came because he had a crappy childhood. As soon as his father realized that Mozart was a musical prodigy with a natural gift for music, he turned him into a cash cow, micro-managing his life and forcing him towards that career path, never letting up for an instant, which led to him never quite developing a stable, mature personality. As for the part of his relationship with other composers, Mozart was the Orson Welles of his day and his music was like Citizen Kane; it had vision and style so unlike anything else of the time that his contemporaries disliked it because they had no idea what they were experiencing. While Mozart's music did get praise when it first came out (like how Citizen Kane was nominated for 9 Oscars even though it only won 1), it was in retrospect that it became recognized as truly great. As for the part about the person stealing the Requiem, I knew that an anonymous person commissioned Mozart to create it and that the production of this piece so consumed Mozart's life that he died before it was entirely finished, but I either forgot or missed the part where a person actually tried to steal it. Finally, as the Critic pointed out, it's a very clever twist in figuring out that Salieri is an unreliable narrator.

Oh no, a movie based on a historical figure isn't 100% accurate, god forbid! That will totally ruin how entertaining the movie is.

I'm surprised he didn't bring up Mozart's "Lick me in the arse", a concrete proof for his immaturity.

SPOILER ALERT There's a spoiler alert.

These editorials are another reason to love the Nostalgia Critic. One week, he can talk about how an Oscar-winner like Amadeus perfectly balances fact and fiction to create a compelling and respectful story, and the next week he can rant about the Alvin and the Chipmunks movies.

Actually me: "Instead of getting your information from movies, why don't you try knowing everything...like I do."

"Your music simply has too many notes!"

The blending of fiction and reality was super fun. I had no idea the movie was going to be like that. It was hillarious and filled with amazing performances

This movie looks like it'd be highly entertaining. I was impressed to find it's over 30 years old now.

Well it's awkward now because we know Mozart died from strep throat which led to kidney failure. Even though these two started out as distrusted rivals, these two later on became genuine friends, who sincerely admired each other's work. It's kinda sad now to think, we dragged this poor soul's name Salieri through the mud, us thinking he killed Mozart. What I find interesting about this movie is that even though Salieri is clearly an evil antagonist, Salieri is played as a sincere and genuine towards Mozart, getting a weird sense they could be good close friends, even though Salieri is trying to kill him lol. So here's a thought, I like to think Salieri and Mozarts friendship was so sincere, that even though folks tried to Villainize Salieri, Salieri's love and admiration for Morzats still comes pouring through, because they were friends who admired each other. Both composers visited the other's show. Salieri even have a standing applause. Good for thought guys.

Go on. Mock this film. That was not the know-it-all's laughing, Critic. That was God!

I have an idea for another editorial: Does the rating system matter anymore? You complained about how Frozen and Finding Dory have no reason to be PG, yet they feel like they need to because people tend to translate G to stuff like Barney. You also said Mask of the Phantasm realizes that PG means more than what others think. At the same time, it feels like a requirement for horror films to be rated R. Plus you have more and more kids going to see R rated films, especially Deadpool, that people are caring less and less about what their kids are watching. Is our rating system neglected or is it obsolete?

Rock me rock me rock me rock me rock me Amadeus *music*

I love this movie. Tom Hulce owns it as Mozart. And F. Murray Abraham was great as Salieri

They really need to do more films about composers, there are many who had much more interesting lives than Mozart (eg: Shostakovich) or were even more unusual creative figures.

Fun Fact: One of Mozart's known works is a little number titled "Leck mir den Arsch fein recht schön sauber". Yeah, try looking up the translation of that song. And while you're at it, a performance of it by some elementary school girls is on RU-vid.

I thought the Affair With the Diamond Necklace conspiracy in Rose of Versailles was too crazy to have actually happened... it actually happened.

Amazing movie, who cares if it's true or not? It's a movie.

I knew about this movie for years. Never had a reason to watch it until now. Thanks, Doug!!! This is why he's so good. Not only does he talk about movies and shows that we loved or hated, he brings up things that we may or may not have heard of and sparks our interest in them.

This has to be one of my favorite editorials yet.

Never saw this one before. I'm glad found it. Looks like Mozard was a mix between the Genius of Dr. House and the mental instability of Tony Stark...all focused to music. A mad man genius both delighted and tormented by his gifted talent.

'How true is Amadeus' ... *Rises slowly from behind wine counter* 'That's a very good question-'

I actually wrote a paper on this exact subject, if you care. Which you... don't.

I actually watched this movie in my middle school music class

This is one of the best movies about music EVER. The passion the characters have for music is just awesome.

wow you make me want to see Amadeus.

You know, I'm surprised that no one's ever made a major motion picture about Ludwig van Beethoven. I mean, we all know about his deafness, but how many know that it may have been a symptom of a wider disease or disorder, possibly an auto-immune disease? Or that he may have also had bipolar disorder, causing him to be very irritable and have numerous fallouts and make-ups with friends and family members? The guy was a proto-rockstar, a musical genius with numerous problems. The story could almost write itself!

SO FUCKING HYPED FOR CHIPMUNKS REVIEW!!! Who's with me!!

I feel like I’m the only child who actually understands and loves Amadeus

We are forgetting that the play is not intended to be historical but is touching upon universal human themes. Why are some people talented? Where does that talent come from. Is it fair that some are blessed with such great skills even if there personal integrity and morality is wanting? This is what the play and movie are about. It seems even the question of of historical accuracy is beside the point.

Good analysis Critic. "Amadeus" is a best musical experience I had ever seen. This is Doug's 2nd favorite film of all time in "Doug's Top 20 Favorite Films of All Time." Also, "Amadeus won several Academy Awards including Best Picture of the Year in 1984.

Watch the HistoryBuffs review. Trust me on this one.

Spoilers! He makes good music

Yea what the fuck, the movie said like 6000 times that motzart worked hard, and the only person who said salieri was mediocre was salieri

The making of Amadeus is almost as amazing as the film itself. They had quite and adventure putting it together.

I don't think I really trust Doug with factual accuracy. He did think that Notre Dame was a town, after all.

You are a genius in a comedian's costume. All these years I am still in awe of your skills and knowledge and sheer power through words. You are probably one of the only people I can think of that could keep up with Roger Ebert and Gene Siskel.

Impressive how Mozart's life is poorly known. The man is one of the biggest names in music history and lived only 200 years ago. An anonymous person might have all of his/her life forgotten within a generation, but not a person whose work is so lively praised and well known even centuries later. And when you think that we assume history books are so accurate about antiquity empires and their rulers who lived millenia ago, it's weird that there's so much mystery about the life of someone who lived during the enlightenment era, among the elite, where writting was rather commonplace. It makes me think that we actually know very little about history, with most of the gaps filled by assumptions or by our imagination. WHo was the first king of Rome? What caused Magnus Alexander's death? Who were the celtic peoples? The German peoples? All we have are pieces of pottery, the story of some people about another people, a poem, a myth... and a handful of reliable accounts in between. Thus, history is the novel we write by putting the pieces together and by assuming a lot of things. WE know nothing, actually

This has been one of my favorites since I was a kid. A few years ago, I stumbled upon the director's cut version. I would recommend it. It has about 30 minutes additional film (which I know, it a lot when it's already a long movie) which fleshes out the relationship between Salieri and Mozart's wife a bit more. It has a few more scenes depicting Mozart's fall into financial ruin. It's not necessary, I suppose, but I really appreciated the additional scenes. This isn't always the case. Often times, less is more, but for anyone who enjoys the film, check out the director's cut (if you haven't already, of course).

[SPOILER WARNING] Before watching this video, I know the things they got right were: -Mozart's genius talent -The fact he didn't handle money very well -He was buried in a mass grave (was a law passed by the Emperor; Mozart wasn't THAT poor) -He actually did have a dirty sense of humor (his letters to family) -A basic rivalry with Salieri (the movie exaggerates it quite a bit) Honestly, Mozart's personality in the movie seems rather endearing to me. Yes, he's pretty much a giggling idiot, but he is committed to his work. Work that is practically perfect in every way. The one thing that makes me really like Amadeus, is the fact that my opinions on the two most prominent characters completely switched the closer it got to the end. At first, I kind of liked Salieri, and rolled my eyes at Mozart. Mr. Salieri seemed kind enough, and suddenly the cocky Mozart walks in and unknowingly makes himself a hindrance to Salieri's talent. I hated Mozart, and sympathized with Salieri. When Salieri first spread that rumor (that Mozart wasn't to be trusted alone with a woman or younger girl), I was just like *well this'll probably teach Mozart a lesson, then he'll eventually get a job*, but then Salieri just goes too far to make Mozart suffer, because he used Mozart's grief for his fathers death to his advantage. And it's because of him that Mozart overworks himself to death (LITERALLY). Then, I realized that Mozart was suffering for no reason, and Salieri was becoming a deranged sadist obsessed with Mozart's work yet also full of seething and unreasonable hatred towards Mozart. Soon, I began to hate Salieri, and sympathize with Mozart. Crap, that comment took too long to write, and I gotta get back to homework. *Puts video on Watch Later*

I watched the movie after seeing this. It's on Netflix, and it's amazing.

" All I know is the guy who played Mozart was also in Animal House. Now there's a movie with good music. "

Fun fact if you didn't like the movie the historical inaccuracies are all you would talk about

damn I haven't seen this movie in years.

As a classical musician, I appreciate this film for bringing one of the greatest composers in the history of this planet into more of the public eye. Even though it certainly has inaccuracies, it is a delightful and deep film, saluting a great god of music.

"Yeah, and the guy from 'Animal House' was in it!"

Absolutely. A great flick. It has been in my own personal top ten since I first saw it. The magic of Amadeus is in how it lifts classical music (not just Mozart's) out of the realm of the dry and the dusty and into a place where it can be loved as something truly dynamic and vital. A point my own mother tried to make to me for many years but it still took this wonderful film to finally drive it home. I think I will pull it off the shelf and watch it agian this evening.

Fun fact: Mozart had a poop fetish. This movie was inaccurate because it did not display Mozart's poop fetish.

Duet was written after a three-day drinking binge on a hangover. that just adds to how awesome Mozart is.

This film by Miloš Forman is an absolute and undeniable chef-d'œuvre. If we should ever encounter an alien race from outer space, Mozart's music should represent us all.

I'm a huge history buff. But people need to stop criticizing historical movies for inaccuracies. There are documentaries for that. In my opinion, history based movies' role is to make the viewers interested in the past enough to go and research the facts on their own.

*cough *history buffs did this already *cough*

Been a while, but I once listened to the piano works of Salieri, followed by those of Mozart, and that's when it struck me: they were flip sides of one coin. Mozart, even though knowing about the dark, twisted, sad things happening in the world, at his deepest core was still a happy, joyous person, whereas Salieri not only embraced, but lived and expressioned himself through said tristesse. Again, this is just what listening to their individual music styles lead me to believe; I have nothing to back it up

This is possibly your best work yet. Bravo. Really informative and really entertaining.

For a long time, I didn't like this movie. I only started to like it as an adult. Why? Because in elementary school/junior high band, when our band teacher was out for whatever reason, his substitute would always put this on. So I watched it dozens of times against my will. I can probably quote entire scenes from this movie, but hand me a clarinet and I'll have no clue how to play it... and I played it for THREE AND A HALF YEARS.Thanks for that, Mr. Lancaster...

8:50 top 10 saddest anima deaths

I'm sure you learned long ago to keep your distance from the comments, so you'll likely never hear this, but I saw Amadeus after seeing it in your top 20 favorite films, and I can't thank you enough. It is such an unbelievably good movie. I'm not informed at all when it comes to classical music, but in terms of full albums just listened to from start to finish, I think the Amadeus soundtrack is probably the one I've listened to most since seeing the film. The music is incredible, and having it anchored to the film just makes it so much more enjoyable for me. Thank you thank you thank you :)

The know-it-all is basically me when I teach people history.

Seeing a Balding man's thinning hair spiked up is never not hilarious.

I watched this movie on Netflix yesterday after having watched this editorial the week before. Take that big media companies who say using footage hurts sales of what's being reviewed

I love this movie, one of the best ever made. Sadly Peter Shaffer, who wrote the original stage play as well as the screenplay adaptation, passed away a month ago. RIP

The most impressive thing about this movie, is that it evokes deeply nuanced emotions. The emotions of amazing talent, being overcome by contempt Mozart recieved ,and the downward spiral of self indulgence and self torture. It is a movie which does what a great wok of music is supposed to do. It captivates your fascination. It captures you, and forces you to experience it. It drowns you in it's expression. This movie has the power and effect, of a great work of music. It overwhelms you.

Come on critic, you didn't even touch on how the idea of "Saliari killed mozart" started out as basically a proto- German-nationalistic rumor that had no basis in reality, or that Saliari was still popular up to his death

*Fun fact: This american movie about Austrian composer is Directed by Czech director.*

that's awesome that the movie is this accurate. I assumed it was more fictional, but tbh, assumed it was because of the pov of the narrator.

This is why I love your channel.

God, this movie is so good. I need to go watch it again now.

Amadeus is a lovely movie. Even if it was a bit historically inaccurate, which it really isn't, I would still love it.

Antonio Salieri actually had a cordial relationship with Mozart and colluded with him on numerous music scores

I am a pleb in movies unlike you, but I thought I knew music and this blew me away. This is amazing, thank you.

History Buffs anyone?

Being that the movie was a comedy/satire about being the second best guy in anything, I would imagine much was changed for the sake of the punchline. For all of us who pray at the shrine for "The Patron Saint of the Mediocre", It was hilarious.

I will have to admit, I didn't really know about this movie till I saw your top 20 movies and before watching this I decided I would watch it. Now first thought was "blek 3 hours, man I will never make it through this" But my god this was amazing. My mind tends to wander a lot and on long movies I tend to have to take a break, and even then I feel like I'm constantly just missing details or not absorbing the movie. But I watched this all the way through in just one sitting. Not a moment passed me by or went unabsorbed. This may have become one of my own favorite movies now, so few films have captivated me in such a way for so long. So thanks NC for introducing me to another great classic.

Best video you've made in years. Well done. :)