The Making of Amadeus [2002]

This riveting film takes a look behind the scenes at one of the 20th century's cinema classics and at one of contemporary cinema's most maddeningly brilliant directors, Milos Forman. Using never before seen materials, from original costume and set sketches to an innumerable collection of intimate on-set photography, blended with vibrant and revealing new interviews of the cast and crew, The Making of Amadeus weaves a spellbinding tale, filled with drama and humor. ...And at the center of it all is the indisputable creative genius of Milos Forman and a cast of characters behind the lens as unique and idiosyncratic as that of the fictional world of in front of the lens. From start to finish, The Making of Amadeus takes an unblinking look at the trials and tribulations of this mammoth production effort. - From the conflicts as Forman goes head-to-head with the world-renowned playwright Sir Peter Schaffer as they take Amadeus from stage to screen, to the seven months of on location filming in communist era Czechoslovakia. With sets crawling with undercover secret police, Milos Forman returns to his native land from exile for the first time in 20 years. He discovers that in order for the film to succeed he must put all his personal emotions aside. In a world in which communist inefficiency reigns supreme and logic seemingly does not apply, the cast and crew embark on a voyage filled with some of the most memorable filmmaking experiences of their lives - as east meets west. Featuring interviews with Milos Forman, producer Saul Zaentz, playwright Sir Peter Schaffer, choreographer Twyla Tharp, conductor Sir Neville Marinner, lead actors Tom Hulce, F. Murray Abraham, and Elizabeth Berridge, among many others, The Making of Amadeus provides a riveting glimpse at a world most never get to see. Executed with a tenderness and craft rarely seen in other "making of films", The Making of Amadeus is a film that can hold it's own against the power of the work it seeks to chronicle.