The Grand Illusion

40th anniversary! New 4K restoration by The Academy Film Archive of the original theatrical cut!

Winner of eight Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Director, Milos Forman’s lush, rollickingly entertaining drama explores the mysteries of creativity and divinely-bestowed genius, as well as jealousy, addiction, and disapproving dads. In a remote asylum, elderly composer Antonio Salieri (a riveting, Oscar-winning F. Murray Abraham) regales a priest with the story of his long-ago frenemyship with the legendary Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (Oscar nominee Tom Hulce). Flashing back to 18th-century Vienna, the pious and pompous Salieri eagerly anticipates meeting Europe’s greatest musical genius—only to discover that Mozart is also crass, immature, and deeply annoying. Knowing that the talent of a “dirty-minded little creature” far surpasses his own drives Salieri to teeth-grinding aggravation and, ultimately, an obsession to destroy his rival.

Part of our 20th Anniversary Celebration Series!

“Amadeus is a magnificent film, full and tender and funny and charming.” Roger Ebert

“A grand, sprawling entertainment… Mozart sings the music of God, Salieri schemes and screams in tragic register, and the film keeps humming merrily along with them both.” Richard Corliss, TIME Magazine

“With Mozart’s magical music swirling around them, Hulce and Abraham share a dual triumph in a film that stands as a provocative and prodigious achievement.” Peter Travers, People Magazine