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Amadeus poster

Movies that feel likeAmadeus (1984)

Disciplined Italian composer Antonio Salieri becomes consumed by jealousy and resentment towards the hedonistic and remarkably talented young Salzburger composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

If you loved Amadeus, the closest films we have are Cazuza: Time Doesn't Stop (2004), Straight Outta Compton (2015) and Stop Making Sense (1984). All three share Amadeus' contemplative and stylish feel, which is what we rank on before quality.

Seen the big three already? The under-the-radar pick below is The Decline of Western Civilization Part II: The Metal Years (1988).

🍅 90% Rotten Tomatoes★ 8.4 IMDb ↗TMDB ↗dir. Miloš Formancontemplativeepicstylish
8 of 12 streaming nowNetflix · HBO Max · Amazon Prime Video

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See it on the Mood Map

If Amadeus hit the spot, these will too

Cazuza: Time Doesn't Stop poster
Cazuza: Time Doesn't Stop
2004 · dir. Walter Carvalho
★ 6.9drama · music · history

The same mix in both: stillness, then scale

The difference: Made in the 2000s, in a different era of the craft

Inspired by the moving book “Só as Mães São Felizes”, by Lucinha Araújo, Cazuza's mother, the film covers a little more than 10 years of the singer’s crazy and brief life – from the beginning of his career in the Circo Voador venue, in 1981, to the huge success and the apotheosis of his shows with the Barão Vermelho band, his solo career, his relations with his parents, friends, lovers and passions, and the courage he had to face his final years, with HIV, until his death, in 1990.

Straight Outta Compton poster
Straight Outta Compton
2015 · dir. F. Gary Gray
🍅 89%★ 7.8drama · music · historyNetflixStarz

Both lean on style more than on drama

In 1987, five young men, using brutally honest rhymes and hardcore beats, put their frustration and anger about life in the most dangerous place in America into the most powerful weapon they had: their music. Taking us back to where it all began, Straight Outta Compton tells the true story of how these cultural rebels—armed only with their lyrics, swagger, bravado and raw talent—stood up to the authorities that meant to keep them down and formed the world’s most dangerous group, N.W.A. And as they spoke the truth that no one had before and exposed life in the hood, their voice ignited a social revolution that is still reverberating today.

Stop Making Sense poster
Stop Making Sense
1984 · dir. Jonathan Demme
🍅 100%★ 8.7documentary · musicRent or buy

Contemplative music, and it commits to that

The difference: Takes it somewhere less epic than Amadeus does

A concert film documenting Talking Heads at the height of their popularity, on tour for their 1983 album "Speaking in Tongues." The band takes the stage one by one and is joined by a cadre of guest musicians for a career-spanning and cinematic performance that features creative choreography and visuals.

Distant Voices, Still Lives poster
Distant Voices, Still Lives
1988 · dir. Terence Davies
🍅 80%★ 7.4drama · music

Stylish history in both cases

Siblings Maisie and Tony, along with their mother, gather for their sister Eileen's wedding. It is a joyous occasion, but through flashbacks, it becomes clear that the family was not always happy. Their father was physically abusive to his wife and left the children emotionally traumatized. As a result, the children have grown into unhappy adults, looking for love they didn't receive when they were young.

The Last Waltz poster
The Last Waltz
1978 · dir. Martin Scorsese
🍅 98%★ 8.1documentary · musicPrime Video

Music built on stillness, twice over

The difference: Sits closer to documentary than Amadeus does

Martin Scorsese's documentary intertwines footage from The Band's incredible farewell tour with probing backstage interviews and featured performances by Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, Van Morrison, Eric Clapton, and other rock legends.

The Legend of 1900 poster
The Legend of 1900
1998 · dir. Giuseppe Tornatore
🍅 58%★ 8drama · music

Drama with a pulse of style, in both cases

The difference: The scrappier of the two with critics

Musician Max Tooney goes to sell his prized Conn trumpet to a music shop, where he plays the instrument one last time. The shopkeeper recognises the song as one on a record matrix he found and asks who the piece is by. Tooney tells the story of an infant found abandoned in the first class dining room of the four-stacker ocean-liner SS Virginian on 1 January 1900. Danny Boodman, a coal-man from the boiler room, names the boy Danny Boodman T. D. Lemon 1900, after himself, the fruit crate the boy was found in, and the year, and raises him as his own.

The Decline of Western Civilization Part II: The Metal Years poster
🍅 76%★ 7.2documentary · music

Both know what they want from music

An exploration of the heavy metal scene in Los Angeles, with particular emphasis on glam metal. It features concert footage and interviews of legendary heavy metal and hard rock bands and artists such as Aerosmith, Alice Cooper, Kiss, Megadeth, Motörhead, Ozzy Osbourne and W.A.S.P..

tick, tick... BOOM! poster
tick, tick... BOOM!
2021 · dir. Lin-Manuel Miranda
🍅 87%★ 7.5drama · musicNetflix

Common ground in both: composer and a true story

On the brink of turning 30, a promising theater composer navigates love, friendship and the pressure to create something great before time runs out.

Koyaanisqatsi poster
Koyaanisqatsi
1983 · dir. Godfrey Reggio
🍅 91%★ 8.2documentary

Products of the same few years

Takes us to locations all around the US and shows us the heavy toll that modern technology is having on humans and the earth. The visual tone poem contains neither dialogue nor a vocalized narration: its tone is set by the juxtaposition of images and the exceptional music by Philip Glass.

Searching for Sugar Man poster
Searching for Sugar Man
2012 · dir. Malik Bendjelloul
🍅 95%★ 8.2music · documentaryHulu

The same preoccupation in both: musician

Two South Africans set out to discover what happened to their unlikely musical hero, the mysterious 1970s rock 'n' roller, Rodriguez.

Gimme Shelter poster
Gimme Shelter
1970 · dir. Albert Maysles
🍅 93%★ 7.8documentary · musicMax

Music in the same key

A detailed chronicle of the famous 1969 tour of the United States by the British rock band The Rolling Stones, which culminated with the disastrous and tragic concert held on December 6 at the Altamont Speedway Free Festival, an event of historical significance, as it marked the end of an era: the generation of peace and love suddenly became the generation of disillusionment.

La Vie en Rose poster
La Vie en Rose
2007 · dir. Olivier Dahan
🍅 50%★ 7.5music · drama

Both are drama through and through

From the mean streets of the Belleville district of Paris to the dazzling limelight of New York's most famous concert halls, Edith Piaf's life was a constant battle to sing and survive, to live and love. Raised in her grandmother's brothel, Piaf was discovered in 1935 by nightclub owner Louis Leplee, who persuaded her to sing despite her extreme nervousness. Piaf became one of France's immortal icons, her voice one of the indelible signatures of the 20th century.

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The best-reviewed films that share Amadeus’ defining feeling.