Film Listology: #79 - Amadeus

Send us Fan MailIn this "Film Listology" episode, hosts Garret Castleberry and Scott McMurry compose an argument both for and against reading the 1985 Academy Award winner for Best Picture as culturally significant to the history of film. Directed by Milos Forman and released in 1984, Amadeus posits a lavish period biopic about the famed composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and the tensions experienced through a contemporary collaborator-rival, Antonio Salieri. Played with Machiavellian charm by Best Actor Academy Award Winner F. Murray Abraham, Salieri enjoys a privileged life of relative wealth and close proximity to royal prosperity, but that which elides him--true creative genius--sets him onto a path ripe with envy, bitterness, and possibly insanity. Our resident film geniuses (like Salieri, in their own minds) explore the film's beautiful elegance while mourning the loss of classical art in cinema. Hosts: Garret Castleberry, Scott McMurryProducers: Garret Castleberry, Will McMurry (Audio Engineer), Alli Garner (Cover Art), Austin Foster (Music)Recommended readings paired with our Film Listology season:Rick Altman. Film/Genre. British Film Institute, 1999.Jim Collins, Ada Preacher Collins, Hilary Radner (Eds.). Film Theory Goes to the Movies, 1st Edition. New York: Routledge, 1992.Ways to Connect with us online:Follow and engage with Special Topics in Media on Twitter at @podcast_topics."Like" to follow our Special Topics in Media Page on Facebook (search Special Topics in Media).Join the Special Topics in Media Facebook Group and share your reviews of the film or this episode.Subscribe to Dr. Castleberry's academic YouTube Channel.Garret's academic website is available at https://garretcastleberry.academia.edu/.Support the show