The fact that the title of the movie encapsulates its subject and principal theme all in one (Amadeus / ama deus, “love God”) is clever. The first half of this is a bonafide masterpiece. Tom Hulce owns his role and genuinely captivates the viewer in the eccentricity, genius, and petulance that is the character of Mozart. In one moment you are entranced by his passion, whimsy, and youthful exuberance for life, and in the next you are exasperated by his lack of tact, self-aggrandizement, and childish detachment from responsibility. The pacing (particularly for the director’s cut) is actually quite good: I didn’t notice the time until a bit past the middle. The cinematography is grainy, blended, and beautiful in the way oil paintings are, which fits the story very well. My only two gripes are that some of the concert scenes dragged and focused a bit too much on the miscellaneous performers rather than Mozart himself, and the actor for Constanze seemed unnatural in the part. These are minor critiques, however. This is a brilliant film about ambition, jealousy, greed, acceptance, piety, and God as both an idea and active sovereign of our lives. If you are an artist, you can absolutely relate to both of the central figures in the movie, and the balance in illustrating their perspectives is praiseworthy here.