Winner of eight Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Director, 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 (Tom Hulce, also nominated for Best Actor). 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.

OSCAR WINNER: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor: F. Murray Abraham, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Art Direction, Best Costume Design, Best Makeup, Best Sound

Photo credit: Warner Bros.