Amadeus

Sorry for the hiatus--we were busy finishing the manuscript, which is now in the publisher's hands. Publication is scheduled for June or July of this year. Yeah!

A few notes on Amadeus:

Salieri: Let me offer you some refreshment. Do you know what these are? Capezzoli di Venere! Nipples of Venus.
(Constanze laughs.)
Salieri: They’re Roman chestnuts in brandied sugar. Try one. Go on, try one! They’re quite surprising.
Constanze: They’re wonderful! Thank you, Your Excellency.

Presenting glorious music to accompany extravagant dishes, Amadeus is a feast for the senses—albeit, for the taste buds, it’s a vicarious feast. At a reception at the cardinal’s palace, Salieri (Abraham) is tempted by a buffet table filled with delectables: pheasant, trout, pâté, salmon mousse, fresh vegetables, chocolate rum balls, Viennese cakes, frosted cookies, and much more. But the most memorable confection appears when Constanze (Berridge) brings her husband’s music to Salieri in secret, and he tempts her with capezzoli di Venere—Nipples of Venus—made from Roman chestnuts and brandied sugar and shaped and decorated to look like women’s nipples. The erotically charged scene serves to underscore the shared sensuality of sex, food, and music—human delights that few are gifted enough to appreciate with complete abandon.

Released 1984
Directed by Milos Forman
Play and screenplay by Peter Shaffer

Starring F. Murray Abraham as Antonio Salieri, Tom Hulce as Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Elizabeth Berridge as Constanze Mozart, Roy Dotrice as Leopold Mozart, and Jeffrey Jones as Emperor Joseph II

Awards: 1985 Academy Awards for Best Actor in a Leading Role (Abraham), Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Best Costume Design, Best Director, Best Makeup, Best Picture (Saul Zaentz), Best Sound, and Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium; 1985 Amanda Award (Norway) for Best Foreign Feature Film; 1985 American Cinema Editors Award for Best Edited Feature Film; 1986 Award of the Japanese Academy for Best Foreign Language Film; 1986 BAFTA Film Awards for Best Cinematography, Best Editing, Best Make Up Artist, and Best Sound; 1985 Casting Society of America Artios for Best Casting for a Feature Film; 1985 César Award (France) for Best Foreign Film; 1985 David di Donatello Awards for Best Director-Foreign Film, Best Foreign Actor (Hulce), and Best Foreign Film; 1985 Directors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures; 1985 Golden Globe Awards for Best Director-Motion Picture, Best Motion Picture-Drama, Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture-Drama (Abraham) and Best Screenplay-Motion Picture; 1986 Golden Screen (Germany) Award; 1986 Guild of German Art House Cinemas Guild Film Award-Gold for Foreign Film; 1985 Italian National Syndicate of Film Journalists Silver Ribbon Award for Best Actor-Foreign Film (Hulce) and Best Director-Foreign Film; 1985 Joseph Plateau Award for Best Artistic Contribution, Best Director, and Best Film; 1985 Jussi Award for Best Foreign Filmmaker (Forman); 1985 Kansas City Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actor (Abraham); 1986 Kinema Junpo Award for Best Foreign Language Film; 1984 Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards for Best Actor (Abraham), Best Director, Best Picture, and Best Screenplay; 1985 Robert Festival Award for Best Foreign Film

Fun Facts:
According to film lore, Elizabeth Berridge consumed fifteen pieces of candy while shooting the “Nipples of Venus” scene—an overdose of sugar, to be sure, and enough to make one feel pretty sick.