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Bookmark this page50 greatest music films ever
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| Perfectly composed: Tom Hulce (right) as Mozart in 'Amadeus' |
30 Amadeus
(Milos Forman, 1984)
Milos
Forman opened out Peter Shaffer’s play with an all-American naturalism
that left some spectators missing the original’s stylised
gossips-cum-Greek chorus, the venticelli. The basic lack of historical
empathy remains: Shaffer seems to regard young Mozart as a freak by the
standards of Home Counties tennis-playing A-level sitters; Forman makes
him a mischievously foul-mouthed American high-school senior. Neither
takes into account the child prodigy trotted round the courts of Europe
by his proud father, performing before royalty when tiny, and when
necessary perfectly sophisticated in polite society (and there was none
more rigidly, formally polite than the ancien régime).
Both
film and original play underline the inexplicable ‘otherness’ of
genius, seen as an arbitrary gift dished out by a capricious deity,
irrespective of the artist’s personal worth. It’s a view much favoured
by the Romantics and heaven-sent for the movies that create heroes
apart, alone, obsessed, dashingly irresistible, sometimes shocking but
ultimately justified by harnessing a God-given talent to a good cause
(or phantasmagorical look-at-me naughtiness as recycled over the years
by perpetual enfant terrible Ken Russell). Examples include the ripely
florid posturing of ‘A Song to Remember’, climaxing when the tubercular
Chopin haemorrhages blood on the keyboard as he plays his heart out.
Charles Vidor’s 1944 slice of Polish patriotism was taken dead
seriously despite the presence of Merle Oberon as George Sand striding
around in the male garb that concealed her throbbing femininity. By a
strange quirk, the same director’s attempt to repeat the formula 16
years later, with ‘Song Without End’ presented Capucine as Liszt’s
innamorata giving the impression of a rather masculine identity beneath
the frills. This added to the improbability of the whole ludicrous mess
despite Dirk Bogarde having learned the fingering for the piano pieces
(the soundtrack was actually by Cuban pianist Jorge Bolet).
At
least he refrained from laying his head on the piano as he played,
rather a difficult feat though creditably managed by Gary Oldman in
‘Immortal Beloved’. Bernard Rose’s Beethoven biopic was underrated; in
comparison with the recent, crass ‘Copying Beethoven’ it’s a
masterpiece. The deaf dynamo is inevitably presented as an outsider but
explicably so, with some sort of explanation for personality defects
laid at the fashionable door of childhood abuse. There’s real musical
appreciation here, a sense of occasion at the climactic performance of
the Choral Symphony that, even with the Disneyfication of the starry
heavens twinkling above, leaves you moved. Perhaps the moral is to stop
nudging the audience in the ribs with the behavioural aberrations of
the so-called genius (a bit of a challenge with the humdrum domesticity
of Bach, say) and let the art do the talking. Martin Hoyle
Greatest hit The
brattish Mozart plays a piece by his older rival Salieri, distorting
it, mocking it and turning it into his own much better version, ending
by blowing a raspberry – so good they filmed it twice: see the recent
‘Copying Beethoven’.
Top 50 index | 50-41 | 40-31 | 30-21 | 20-11 | 10-6 | 5-1
Author: Dave Calhoun. Written by Derek Adams, Geoff Andrew, Dave Calhoun, Wally Hammond, Michael Hodges, Martin Horsfield, Martin Hoyle, David Jenkins, Trevor Johnston, Eddy Lawrence, Sharon O'Connell, Chris Parkin, Graeme Thomson, Peter Watts
User comments on this story
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- Tobbe said...
- What.. why arent The Blues Brothers on this list.. Shuld be at the top five... Posted on Nov 18 2011 18:25
- Report as inappropriate
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- Matty said...
- Might have been pit already but lets have nowhere boy on the list somewhere, and somewhere high up because its a keeper Posted on Oct 17 2011 01:27
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- nick said...
-
Let's Get Lost,about Chet Baker,should be on the list.
Bird,about Charlie Parker,should not. Posted on Apr 18 2011 16:07 - Report as inappropriate
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- Declan said...
- Titanic?? "She moved through the fair" in Micheal Collins?? Gladiator song?? Jurasic Park?? these should all be included Posted on Apr 14 2011 20:47
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- Gary Handman said...
- Hello. I think it's totally misguided and non-useful to lump fictional films about music and musicians togehter with documentaries. The language, intent, and cinematic strategies of these two kinds of film are often world's apart. For a more sensible listing of movies about music, see UC Berkeley's web page: http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/MRC/musicmovies.html and UCB's Music Documentary page: http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/MRC/music.html Posted on Mar 08 2011 20:20
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- Bop City said...
-
MC5 - A True Testimonial poll:
http://tinyurl.com/MC5-ATT-poll
“It’s a great document of the band, it’s a great document of life, and it’s a great document of things ... far and beyond the band.” - Jackson Smith, Detroit-based musician son of Fred & Patti Smith
"Music so extraordinary that it transformed the lives of all who experienced it demands the release of a documentary that does the MC5 justice. Few bands have ever seen so much go so wrong so quickly and have been so misunderstood in the process. A True Testimonial represents a belated opportunity to set things straight, put things right. The fans deserve it. So does the band. And so does the music." - Don McLeese, author of Kick Out The Jams (Continuum 33 1/3 series) Posted on Feb 05 2011 22:21 - Report as inappropriate
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- andy said...
- what about Human Traffic or High Fidelity? Posted on Jan 06 2011 13:12
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- shar said...
- Loved the Last Waltz Too Jim... But more as a sound track than a Movie. Ray, Cadillic Records, The Contenders and even Walk the Line had a great story line . Some are good for CD/Sondtract, but lose it as a film. Posted on Aug 20 2010 21:01
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- Bill said...
- Wayne's World is number 1! Posted on Aug 20 2010 19:35
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- GONIC said...
- i think 'August Rush' is the one of best music films. the way you feel the muzic. and how we can belive in it. the power of music. and every thing Posted on Aug 18 2010 06:22
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- shar said...
- Cadillic Records and The Contenders Best ever Films and Great Sound Track Posted on Aug 09 2010 02:19
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- shar said...
- Cadillic Records and The Contenders Best ever Films and Great Sound Track Posted on Aug 09 2010 02:18
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- shar said...
- Cadillic Records and The Contenders Best ever Films and Great Sound Track Posted on Aug 09 2010 02:18
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- Jim said...
- Um, I'm not gonna try to reason with you, but let's just say you left out Woodstock and The Last Waltz. End of story. Also, Scott Walker is a godly artist (actually my favorite) but 30th Century Man is a terrible doc. Just a bunch of pretentious idiots and mediocre directing and editing. And if you're going to include movies about music, I would add Satyajit Ray's The Music Room. Posted on Jul 24 2010 02:13
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- Bill said...
- Wayne's World is number one Posted on Jul 11 2010 09:45
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