Amadeus is a 1984 American period drama film directed by Miloš Forman. Peter Shaffer adapted it from his 1979 stage play, inspired by Alexander Pushkin's 1830 play Mozart and Salieri. Shaffer described it as a "fantasia on [a real-life] theme", as it imagines an orchestral rivalry between two 18th-century Vienna composers, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Antonio Salieri. Salieri struggles to reconcile his professional admiration for Mozart with his jealous hatred, and resolves to ruin Mozart's career as his form of vengeance against God.