Despite a not too convincingly debauched Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, played with itsy-bitsy-cutesy flair by Academy Award nominee Tom Hulce, the visually stunning Amadeus is an intriguing treatise on the coexistence of heavenly talents and earthly desires within the same human mind.
F. Murray Abraham is an impressive Antonio Salieri, the self-important but morally corrupt second-rank composer who, as written by Peter Shaffer (from his own play), does his utter best to destroy Mozart, the carousing, heavy-drinking, sex-starved composer of divine music. Milos Forman handles the dramatic elements with a sure hand, relying on the assistance of Miroslav Ondricek's camera work, Patrizia von Brandenstein's production design and Karel Cerný's art direction, Theodor Pistek and Christian Thuri's costumes — and Mozart's music, of course. Amadeus won 8 Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Actor (Abraham).
FILM
Amadeus
Another Country
Country
The Last Starfighter
The Lonely Guy
Mike's Murder
Starman
Swing Shift
DIRECTOR
Marek Kanievska (Another Country)
James Bridges (Mike's Murder)
John Carpenter (Starman)
Nick Castle (The Last Starfighter)
Jonathan Demme (Swing Shift)
Milos Forman (Amadeus)
ACTOR
Jeff Bridges (Starman)
F. Murray Abraham (Amadeus)
Lance Guest (The Last Starfighter)
Timothy Hutton (Iceman)
Paul Newman (Harry & Son)
Steve Martin (All of Me)
ACTRESS
Vanessa Redgrave (The Bostonians)
Karen Allen (Starman)
Mia Farrow (Broadway Danny Rose)
Goldie Hawn (Swing Shift)
Jessica Lange (Country)
Meryl Streep (Falling in Love)
Lesley Ann Warren (Choose Me)
Debra Winger (Mike's Murder)
SUPPORTING ACTOR
Bronson Pinchot (Beverly Hills Cop)
Colin Firth (Another Country)
Ed Harris (Swing Shift)
Jeffrey Jones (Amadeus)
Darrell Larson (Mike's Murder)
John Lone (Iceman)
Guy Marchand (P'tit con / Petit Con)
Tristan Olivier (Another Country)
Denzel Washington (A Soldier's Story)
SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Peggy Ashcroft (A Passage to India)
Eszter Balint (Stranger Than Paradise)
Elizabeth Berridge (Amadeus)
Nastassja Kinski (Paris, Texas)
Christine Lahti (Swing Shift)
Geraldine Page (The Pope of Greenwich Village)
Gilda Radner (The Woman in Red)
Wendie Jo Sperber (The Bachelor Party)
Lena Stolze (Morgen in Alabama / Man Under Suspicion)
Lily Tomlin (All of Me)
SCREENPLAY
Peter Shaffer (Amadeus)
Jonathan Betuel (The Last Starfighter)
Robert Bolt (The Bounty)
James Bridges (Mike's Murder)
Bruce A. Evans & Raynold Gideon (Starman)
Loring Mandel (The Little Drummer Girl)
Julian Mitchell (Another Country)
Ron Nyswaner, Bo Goldman & Nancy Dowd (Swing Shift)
William D. Wittliff (Country)
CINEMATOGRAPHY
Ernest Day (A Passage to India)
Henri Alekan (A Strange Love Affair)
Juan Ruiz Anchía (Maria's Lovers)
Peter Biziou (Another Country)
Stephen H. Burum (Body Double)
Caleb Deschanel (The Natural)
Bobby Muller (Paris, Texas)
Sven Nykvist (Un Amour de Swann / Swann in Love)
Miroslav Ondricek (Amadeus)
Alex Thomson (Eureka)
ORIGINAL SCORE
Randy Newman (The Natural)
Kitaro (Sishui liunian / Homecoming)
Jack Nitzsche (Starman)
Tangerine Dream (Heartbreakers)
"Best Films of …" Annual List
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Interesting list, but where is "A Passage to India" among the best films of the year? Was "Mike's Murder" or "Country" really better than David Lean's last film?