History YMMV / Amadeus

** The sung arias from Mozart's German-language operas are sung in English, as it was assumed that English-speaking audiences would want to be able to understand the lyrics. Instead, this decision was deemed unnecessary.

* TheyChangedItNowItSucks: Many fans believe the director's cut adds little and hurts the movie's pacing. Making matters much worse is that the director's is the only one available on Blu-ray and streaming, meaning it’s much easier to watch the one deemed inferior than the one that won moviegoers' hearts.

* "CommonKnowledge": Because of this play/film and its popularization of the myth of the Mozart/Salieri rivalry, many people believe that ''Amadeus'' portrays Salieri as jealous because Mozart is more famous and renowned than he is. (This is how it's often portrayed in parodies like the one we saw on WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons.) But this isn't quite the case: as portrayed by Shaffer, Mozart struggled for much of his career (partially due to Salieri's influence) and, except for his childhood and the early years of his career, wasn't all that celebrated as a composer, his fame coming mostly after his death. Salieri's jealousy is mainly due to Mozart's ''talent''; even during Mozart's lifetime when Salieri's work is more famous and celebrated than Mozart's is, Salieri knows in his heart that Mozart's work is better, and it galls him. He has some lines in the play to this effect, describing to us how although he was rich and famous, it all meant nothing to him because it was for work he knew to be inferior, and the approval of the masses meant little to him when said masses couldn't distinguish true genius.

* "CommonKnowledge": Because of this play/film and its popularization of the myth of the Mozart/Salieri rivalry, many people believe that ''Amadeus'' portrays Salieri as jealous because Mozart is more famous and renowned than he is. (This is how it's often portrayed in parodies like the one we saw on WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons.) But this isn't quite the case: as portrayed by Shaffer, Mozart struggled for much of his career (partially due to Salieri's influence) and, except for his childhood and the early years of his career, wasn't all that celebrated as a composer, his fame coming mostly after his death. Salieri's jealousy is mainly due to Mozart's ''talent''; even when Salieri's work is more famous and celebrated than Mozart, Salieri knows in his heart that Mozart's work is better, and it galls him. He has some lines in the play to this effect, describing to us how although he was rich and famous, it all meant nothing to him because it was for work he knew to be inferior, and the approval of the masses meant little to him when said masses couldn't distinguish true genius.

** Going on from the two points above...just how reliable a narrator IS Salieri? Both the play and the movie are framed as his remembrance of his own life, recounted to others (the theatrical audience in the play, the young priest in the movie). And he's always portraying himself as the smartest, most aware guy in the room at nearly all times. He seems to have a low-level contempt for nearly ''everyone,'' from his own wife (in the play), to his fellow courtiers and musicians, to the ''Emperor.'' The only one he acknowledges as being in any way better than him is Mozart, for his talent, which he's insanely jealous of...and Salieri even looks down on him to an extent for his immaturity and vulgarity. The more you notice this superiority complex, the more you wonder just how much of this story is the truth...and how much of it's being filtered through Salieri's ego.

** Going on from that, just how reliable a narrator IS Salieri? Both the play and the movie are framed as his remembrance of his own life, recounted to others (the theatrical audience in the play, the young priest in the movie). And he's always portraying himself as the smartest, most aware guy in the room at nearly all times. He seems to have a low-level contempt for nearly ''everyone,'' from his own wife (in the play), to his fellow courtiers and musicians, to the ''Emperor.'' The only one he acknowledges as being in any way above him is Mozart, for his talent, which he's insanely jealous of...and Salieri even looks down on him to an extent for his immaturity and vulgarity. The more you notice this superiority complex, the more you wonder just how much of this story is the truth...and how much of it's being filtered through Salieri's ego.

** Going on from that, just how reliable a narrator IS Salieri? Both the play and the movie are framed as his remembrance of his own life, recounted to others (the theatrical audience in the play, the young priest in the movie). And his own story portrays him as the smartest, most aware guy in the room at nearly all times. He seems to have a low-level contempt for nearly ''everyone,'' from his own wife (in the play), to his fellow courtiers and musicians, to the ''Emperor.'' The only one he acknowledges as being in any way above him is Mozart, for his talent, which he's insanely jealous of...and Salieri even looks down on him to an extent for his immaturity and vulgarity. The more you notice this superiority complex, the more you wonder just how much of this story is the truth...and how much of it's being filtered through Salieri's ego.

** Salieri's father. When telling the priest of his childhood, Salieri describes him as an uncultured boor with no understanding of his son's musical ambitions. But when you really think about his response to Salieri's wish to be just like Mozart ("Why? Do you want to be trained monkey? Would you like me to drag you around Europe doing tricks like a circus freak?") it can easily come across as gruff but loving concern for his son and a desire for him to have a normal childhood. The fact that Salieri interprets his sudden death as a [[EgocentricallyReligious miracle that allowed him to become a sought-after composer and music teacher in Vienna]] also indicates that his memory of his father is heavily biased by [[ItsAllAboutMe his own ego.]]