[10]

Straight biographies rarely make great film, but by filtering the subject through another man's envy, director Milos Forman (One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest) delivers one of the best bio-films I've ever seen. This isn't a film about a composer and his music (how boring would that be?) -- it's a film about an insanely jealous contemporary named Salieri. Salieri, played brilliantly by F. Murray Abraham, turns Mozart's life and accomplishments into his own personal battle with God. Just watch Abraham pretend to be Mozart's best friend, all while plotting to destroy him, and you quickly appreciate why the man won an Oscar for his performance.

Tom Hulce, as Mozart, is a good sparring partner — especially in a terrific scene where Mozart dictates to Salieri from his death bed. Hulce’s performance is off-kilter, punctuated with a high-pitched, ridiculous laugh that gleefully pulls the stuffing out of your preconceptions of costume drama. The fine supporting cast includes Jeffrey Jones (who brings some droll, much welcome comic relief) and Cynthia Nixon (Sex and the City). The film is also a visual delight full of sumptuous sets and costumes, both of which have the opportunity to get really inventive during masquerade and vaudeville sequences.

In addition to Abraham’s win, the film also won Oscars for best picture, director, art direction, costume design, adapted screenplay, sound, and makeup.